Ohio State’s alternate uniforms for Michigan have almost no red, again

The Ohio State Buckeyes are usually the scarlet and gray. At Michigan on Saturday, they’ll be the white, gray, black, and metallic silver. Their look in Ann Arbor:

Nike explains it:

Gray accents and a metallic silver pattern throughout the uniform honor the Buckeyes’ tradition of toughness and remind their rivals of their hard earned (and re-earned) nickname, the Silver Bullets, which describes the squad’s historically staunch defense.

The O on the neckline is red, and there’s also some red trim on the helmet, gloves, and shoes.

Ohio State’s iconic home uniform includes a red top, and the Buckeyes’ road digs have red numbers. Scarlet is a central color in pretty much every Ohio State uniform, even when the teams wears alternates.

But the Buckeyes seem less concerned with red this year. They wore this all-gray getup against Penn State in October, also with just a touch of red trim.

The chrome helmet is a specific nod to the “Silver Bullets” moniker, and it appears to be the same as the one OSU wore against Penn State. The helmet design is a “Buckeye wolf,” Nike says, which I guess is because wolves are fearsome and aggressive.

How that helmet looks when covered with stickers:

Nike describes them with almost incredible brand-speak, as “a new gray and red colorway of the LeBron Soldier 11 football cleat. The synthetic upper has four elastic straps that provide adjustable lock-down support, while triangle-shape studs across the bright red chrome plate give the traction needed for acceleration and quick changes in direction.”

The program teased them two weeks before the game with sound effects that sound like they’re from a blizzard north of the Wall in Game of Thrones:

If it’s snowing at the Big House during the game, maybe Ohio State’s players will be invisible and roam free to score touchdowns as they please.

In 2016, a matte black helmet, with some alterations to the sleeves:

But the Buckeyes haven’t done a terrible job with their alternates, which is more than lots of teams trying them can say.