Ohio State Football: Behind The Scenes At Wrigley Field

The Ohio State Buckeyes will kick off their game against the Northwestern Wildcats inside historic Wrigley Field at noon on Saturday. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network. In the video below, you will get a behind the scenes look at Wrigley Field.

Wrigley Field is one of the most historic and storied venues in all of American sports. Built in 1914, it has hosted some of the most iconic moments in sports, including Babe Ruth’s famous “called shot” home run during the 1930 World Series.

Saturday’s game may fall a little short of that benchmark, but should be a memorable one for the Buckeyes and the tens of thousands of scarlet-and-gray-clad fans who are expected to pack the ballpark.

This unique event and venue has generated a lot of interest – and a lot of concern – given that it isn’t designed to hold football games.

This video taken the morning of the Ohio State vs. Northwestern game gives you a first-hand look at everything from the walk the Buckeyes will take from their locker room, through the underground batting cages, and through the first-base dugout, and a look at the entire field, including the famous ivy-covered brick walls, and the modifications made to allow college football to be played.

Next, get a look into a place few people have seen before, the inside of the iconic hand-operated center field scoreboard.

This next video gives you a look inside the Wrigley Field press box, made famous by iconic Cubs’ announcer Harry Carey.

In this video taken the day before the game, you can get an up-close and inside look at some of the unique quirks around the field and the stadium in the leadup to the game.

What changes have been made to the field for the game? How far is that brick wall from the back of the end zone? And how much padding is there to protect players?

You’ll get to see it all for yourself. We will add new videos to this post on Saturday morning, once we have access to additional areas of the stadium, including the bullpens, dugouts, press box, and the famous ivy on the outfield walls.

There are already signs of some of the unique twists in store for fans on Saturday. The famous hand-operated scoreboard has the Big Ten football games displayed instead of out-of-town baseball scores.

The area between the padding and the ivy-covered brick outfield wall is bigger than you might think because the pads hang from the home run basket.

This is the back corner of the end zone on the west side of the field. The white area is about four feet wide, and then there is another couple of feet before players will reach the padded edge of the stands.

Here is a look taking a walk from the stands to the press box and into the press box seating area. There are plenty of acknowledgments of great moments and players in Chicago Cubs history along the way.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at Wrigley Field on a college football game day. This video takes you down the stairs from the visiting locker room to the batting cage under the stadium, into the visiting team’s dugout, and then out onto the field.

You’ll walk around the field, to get a close-up look at the setup for today’s game, the famous ivy-covered walls, the Cubs bullpen, just how much space there is behind the end zones before you hit the wall, and much more.

Up next is a tour into the famed Wrigley Field scoreboard where the scores are still kept by hand. You’ll get a look inside all three levels of the Wrigley Field scoreboard, including looks at how the numbers get changed out, the incredible view of the Wrigley Field rooftops and downtown Chicago from the side windows, and much more.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look behind the scenes at Wrigley Field for a college football game.

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