At halftime of the Ohio State Buckeyes' Sept. 25 steamrolling of in-state football opponent the Akron Zips, the Ohio State University Marching Band put on its own dominant performance with its "Party Rock Country Extravaganza."
The 17-minute celebration of country music incorporated Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" and Tim McGraw's "I Like It, I Love It" plus some of the 21st century's top hits, including Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova," Darius Rucker's "Wagon Wheel," Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise," Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" and two songs by Columbus, Ohio's favorite trio, Rascal Flatts ("Me and My Gang" and "Life is a Highway").
Such an impeccable song selection isn't even the best part. Per news.OSU.edu, the halftime show marked "the first time since 2019 — and for the 52nd time in history — The Ohio State University Marching Band Alumni performed in Ohio Stadium and at Skull Session with the current marching band."
More than 600 alumni band members registered to take part in the performance.
"The Best Damn Band in the Land's" (TBDBITL) expanded lineup used Ohio Stadium as its canvas, drawing more than a quadruple Script Ohio at the end of the performance. They also took formation as a country singer, a pair of line dancers, a cowboy hat, a pair of boots with spurs and a pickup truck.
Underwood retweeted a trending clip of the band performing "Cowboy Casanova," complete with a drum major's twirling feature, with an affirmative "awesome!"
Awesome!?? https://t.co/vxgH0xgjgq
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) September 27, 2021
It wasn't the Ohio State Marching Band's first country music tribute in the month of September. Its "The Heroes of 9/11" performance on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks incorporated Brooks & Dunn's "Only in America" and Alan Jackson's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)."
