Don’t ever change Ohio State football’s spring game, the best time to honor and celebrate

COLUMBUS, Ohio — There was a family wearing shirts in honor of their father and husband. He died in 2017, and this is their tradition, to attend the Ohio State football spring game, connecting to his memory through their shared love of the Buckeyes. Down the concourse inside Ohio Stadium, there was a baby sucking on a pacifier and strapped to her father’s chest, wide-eyed at her first spring game.

Some of the best football recruits in the country formed a pregame line on the field as the steps back into the stands experienced a traffic jam. Beside them, kids waited for a photo with Brutus Buckeye.

First-round draft picks from three decades came home for the day. Ted Ginn Jr. (first round 2007), Cam Heyward (first round 2011) and Justin Fields (first round 2021) watched. So did Tyvis Powell and Doug Worthington and Kirk Herbstreit and other Buckeyes of the past; and Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave and Nicholas Petit-Frere and Thayer Munford, Buckeyes of the recent past who played on this field five months ago and will hear their names called in the NFL Draft in two weeks.

There were more — when they lined up the former players in attendance on the goal line after the third quarter, more than 70 stood in a line.

There were big pretzels, deep-fried Buckeyes and soda stations to fill your drink yourself.

Oh, and on the field there was a college football team that might win the national championship this season. All for $7 a ticket.

But the best reason to be at Ohio Stadium on Saturday for what I’ll always contend might be the best football day of an Ohio State year came at halftime. A tribute to Dwayne Haskins, killed a week ago, played on the video board and everyone watched. Together. About 100 players and 50 coaches and staffers on the field, and 60,007 fans around them, watched. That was the announced attendance, a figure that always comes with a little massaging. So it ended with a 7 for a reason, for Dwayne.

Then Ryan Day kneeled with his team and senior captain Kamryn Babb led them in prayer and 60,007 honored that. Together.

“To get Buckeye Nation together, to celebrate our team and the hard work we put in this spring,” Day said this week leading into the game, “but also to get everybody together to honor Dwayne, I think that’s appropriate.”

It was, because that’s what the spring game is for, to celebrate and honor, to reunite after months apart, to envision what’s ahead, to stuff a pretzel in your face. It never needs to be more than that, and I hope Ohio State never pushes itself to make this middle Saturday in April more than that.

The attendance crept back toward normalcy after last year’s game was limited to 19,180 by COVID restrictions and the 2020 spring game was canceled just weeks into the pandemic. Rekindling that spring feeling felt right, but it cam come back even more.

Ohio State set a national record with an announced crowd of 95,722 fans in 2009. Urban Meyer pushed the spring game hard upon his arrival, and the Buckeyes broke their record in 2015 with 99,391 fans on a day that included a halftime race featuring the fastest student on campus, Brutus, cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs, and Braxton Miller and Ezekiel Elliott.

So in 2016, Meyer wanted six digits and got it — 100,189, another record. Then came 80,134 in 2017 and 47,803 in 2018 and 61,106 in 2019.

Maybe Day can push for triple figures again next year. Because this fall, the worst seats to the Notre Dame and Michigan games will be $149 face value, and resale sites will push that much higher. Even the worst tickets to the worst games — Arkansas State and Toledo — are $42 each, or six times higher than the spring game price. Throw in parking and food for a family of four, and you’re way over a $200 day in the fall.

So come to the spring game. Meyer loved the show. The 2015 game also featured a halftime throwing competition between Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett and Troy Smith. Lean back into that. Saturday, after the Haskins tribute, a student raced Brutus the length of the field. The student got a 15-yard head start and was dominating the mascot. Then he fell. And fell again. And fell again. Brutus won. The crowd groaned together. It was wonderful.

In a story last week on The Athletic, the idea of teams playing FCS schools in the spring instead of a spring game was presented. The story noted places like Ohio State draw fans in the spring. Many other schools don’t. So what about the idea of Ohio State playing, let’s say, Youngstown State, in the middle of April instead?

I asked Day about it and he was curious.

“I think it’s definitely worth the conversation,” Day said. “Especially for your young players, I don’t think it’s out of the question to at least bring it up to see if you can work through the issues.

“I haven’t quite thought it through, but I heard somebody bring it up the other day, and it kind of caught my attention. I think it’s definitely worth talking about.”

I hope it never happens here. Or if it does, I hope such a game doesn’t replace the spring game. Maybe play an FCS school to get reps for the players who need them and to give players at smaller schools a chance to play in the Shoe.

But don’t ever stop this style of spring game, at least at Ohio State. After Saturday’s game, the players went back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for a picnic with the families. For two hours before that, they had a picnic with their fans.

There was football and family, and fun and sun, and pretzels. There were people there who find it much more difficult to pay up for the fall prices. The week after the death of a beloved player, there was a chance for Buckeyes to be together.

That’s what spring is for. Don’t ever lose that.

More OSU coverage

Pryor, Royer and what we learned about the offense

Hancock, Stokes and other Spring Game defensive standouts

Haskins honored with video tribute at Spring Game

Who is Sammy Wigs, and why do you need to watch him?

Why kicker Noah Ruggles missed Saturday’s game

George: I’d like Tennessee State to play OSU

Picking the 4 best CFP receivers: Survivor podcast

Stroud has spent two years mastering OSU’s QB roller coaster

If you or a loved one has questions or needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit 1800gambler.net for more information.

Get the latest Ohio State Buckeyes merchandise: Here’s where you can order Ohio State football gear online, including jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies, hats and much more.