Michael Mitchell is used to seeing more scarlet and gray than green and white while walking around campus on Saturdays.

The senior safety, like many of his teammates, knows that the Bobcats take a back seat to the Buckeyes during the fall, but that doesn’t make it any easier for the players to handle.

“It bothers you,” Mitchell said. “Especially when you know you go to a certain school and you see an Ohio State shirt and an Iowa shirt and you’re just like ‘do you know what school you’re going to?’”

Julian Posey is a Cincinnati native and his brother, DeVier, attends Ohio State.

Posey said he is hurt when he sees a fellow student in an Ohio State uniform. He said he can’t fathom why students leave Peden in droves at halftime or skip the game entirely just to watch Ohio State on TV.

“I know you were born and bred with that, but still,” Posey said. “In high school you didn’t root for another high school. You bled your high school colors; why not bleed your college colors?

“You pay thousands and thousands of dollars and don’t want to root for your team? It doesn’t make sense to me as a player.”

Cornerback Idris Lawrence is one of a number of Bobcats that grew up in Columbus. While he admits that he is a Michigan fan, he said he can relate to the students’ unwavering allegiance to the Buckeyes.

“You can’t expect fans to be on our side,” Lawerence said. “Ohio State is No. 3 in the nation. A lot of people who attend Ohio University were Buckeye fans growing up and just attend Ohio.”

Lawerence, though, is more of a rarity than a rule on the team.

“We’re playing division I football just like they are,” tight end Andrew Mooney said. “You know the entire student body is going to be watching with a lot of other people. If we can play well against the Buckeyes, people are going to realize we can play well against anybody else in the conference.”

This game is more than just trying to beat the No. 3 ranked team in the country for many of the Ohio players.

Posey said they are looking at the game as a chance to prove themselves to the nation, the coaches that overlooked them and the OU student body.

“Any time you get to do something like this we’re trying to take over,” Posey said. “We have a chance to take a lot of things back. Surprise the world, shock the world, get a lot of recognition and take our fan base back.”