For 1966, the Buckeyes found themselves in red shells with a one-inch silver center stripe, one-half-inch black flanking stripes, and one-half-inch silver stripes flanking those. Many of the players chose the optional “Absorblo” crown panel or external padding so that the physical appearance of the team’s helmets was similar to previous seasons, except with the new color scheme. This new look was accompanied by a shift in recruiting intent that now included going beyond the boundaries of Ohio to mine talent, a reaction to the intrusion of Michigan and other Big Ten schools onto the fertile high school football fields of Ohio. The “invasion” of Big Ten, Eastern Independents like Syracuse, Penn State, and Pitt, and some SEC schools came after the faculty vote that cost OSU the Rose Bowl bid in '61. Turning down the bowl bid caused many to think that OSU was de-emphasizing football and what had been exclusive Buckeye recruiting ground had become a wide-open marketplace. The offense sputtered as the Buckeyes limped in with a 4-5 record. Center Ray Pryor was an All American and teamed with powerful OT Mike Current who went on to a long and productive NFL career that lasted thirteen seasons, most of them with the Broncos where he opened holes for Floyd Little and Otis Armstrong. HB Bo Rein became a success as NC State’s head coach but perished in an airplane crash on one of his first recruiting trips as LSU's newly-named head coach early in 1980. With the fifty-five receptions of end Billy Anders, who didn’t play high school football, Rein paced the OSU offense that unfortunately, lacked the power of typical years. In five of their nine games their scoring output totaled a meager thirty-four points.          

A poor start scuttled the '67 season as the Buckeye offense was asleep and they dropped three of the first five before reeling off four straight wins to finish 6-3. Senior HB Rudy Hubbard was the mainstay and became a successful college coach, first being credited with recruiting and developing Archie Griffin, and later winning two NCAA Division IAA National Championships at Florida A&M. FB Paul Huff was a prototypical Hayes plunger and sophs FB Jim Otis and HB Dave Brungard showed great promise as the Bucks’ top two ball carriers. End Rufus Mayes and tackles Dave Foley and All Conference Dick Himes who played for the Packers for ten seasons, were solid up front though the ground game picked up a lackluster 1112 yards for the year. With an un-Hayes-like 202 passes thrown and poor scoring production, Woody was looking ahead to ’68, ready to again keep it on the ground although end Billy Anders caught enough to make All Big Ten. DB Ted Provost paced the defense with eight INT’s although LB Nick Roman who would put in five NFL seasons with three teams remained active and productive. The heat was on Hayes and his staff but his strong finish and outstanding frosh class gave his career at OSU a reprieve.