'Scarlet The Shoe' Once Again Highlights Ohio State Buckeyes' Game Themes

The Ohio State Buckeyes are ready to kick off the new era of Big Ten football.

The Buckeyes will don their alt gray uniforms against Iowa. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

Buckeye fans, get ready for another BIG season of football.

Ohio State announced its 2024 home game themes in a press release Monday, which included the third volume of "Scarlet the 'Shoe," among other themes.

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes will open the season against Akron with a celebration to honor Hall-of-Fame Buckeye Archie Griffin's 50th anniversary of winning back-to-back Heisman trophies.

Oct 21, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Fireworks erupt as the Ohio State Buckeyes take the field in a Scarlet Out the Shoe game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

The following week against Western Michigan, Ohio State will host its annual Alumni Band Day, where past and present members of the "The Best Damn Band in the Land" will perform "Script Ohio" in conjunction on the field.

The Buckeyes' start-to-the-season home stand will culminate in the Scarlet and Gray Game against Marshall Sept. 21.

When Ohio State returns home Oct. 5 against Iowa, they will host their Hall-of-Fame game, announcing those in all sports who will enter the 2024 class. The Buckeyes will also don their alternate gray uniforms.

Whoever the play caller is at the time will then have a tough road game in Eugene, when Oregon hosts Ohio State in their "blackout" game.

However, Nebraska may face a similar unwelcoming crowd Oct. 26 after the Buckeyes' three-week home hiatus — that is, when Ohio State hosts their, what has become, annual "Scarlet the 'Shoe" Homecoming game. This will be the last special-themed jersey game of the season.

The following two home games, Ohio State will honor those who served in the military against Purdue and, for the first time, the Buckeyes will host a First Responders Appreciation night against Indiana on Nov. 23.

The final, and always most-anticipated game of the season, will be against Michigan under newly hired full-time head coach Sherrone Moore in Ohio State's Senior Day. Moore defeated the Buckeyes in his debut with the interim tag a season ago — while Day has not defeated the Wolverines in each of the last three seasons, he will have yet another tough task ahead of him in year six.