The Ohio State football program announced on Thursday morning it will wear its scarlet “Color Rush” uniforms when it hosts Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 21 (8 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN).
The uniforms, which pull inspiration from the NFL’s Color Rush promotion, pair the Buckeyes’ standard home jerseys and silver helmets with scarlet pants and accessories. The full ensemble has been worn just once before in a 33-24 win over Penn State in 2021.
Ohio State has historically worn its “Heritage Stripes” throwback uniforms in the College Football Playoff, but sources have indicated the Buckeyes will only wear those uniforms – which debuted during their run to the 2014 title – if they reach the national championship.
Those same sources revealed that Nike no longer provides all of its College Football Playoff participants with new uniforms now that the playoff has expanded to 12 teams, thus the “Diamond Quest” Nike Swoosh – and new uniforms – will only be worn by the teams playing in the championship game on Jan. 20.
Ohio State is 12-1 this century when wearing the same color jerseys and pants, including 4-1 in white jerseys and pants, 4-0 in black jerseys and pants, 3-0 in gray jerseys and pants and, as mentioned, 1-0 in scarlet jerseys and pants. The Buckeyes’ lone loss came at Oregon on Oct. 12.
The Volunteers have not yet announced what uniform combination they’ll counter with, though they wore their standard white helmets, white jerseys and white pants in three of their four road games this season and orange pants just once.
Photos courtesy of @OhioStateFB on X/Twitter.
