The kid was an OU student but apparently dropped out last year.  I'm not going to hold the department's feet to the fire on this one (I'll wait till something even more trivial)... Are they supposed to swipe the ID card of every kid that works for them every day to make sure they're still in school?  

That's got to be a pretty isolated incident, I can't imagine many people dropping out of school and keeping it secret like that...  

I have changed my mind on the fight.

"It was the whole reason I tried out to be Rufus last year," he said. "I knew we were going back to OSU this year, and I wanted to tackle Brutus."

This kid is great and its brought a ton of publicity to Ohio. He is the Steven Slater of mascots.

Perhaps my comment was a wee bit blunt, I don't mean to disparage OSU's band -- merely the show.

Their band's musicality and precision is impressive, and the show and formations clearly took a lot of practice and talent to pull off.  Maybe I wasn't the target audience here, as hearing a theme song from any of the TV programs in the show prompted me to change the channel ASAP, but I just thought the concept of the show was so uninteresting that I'd've rather watched the turf grow.

I'm sure you guys have put on some great shows -- and as I said, are an extremely talented group.  I just didn't care for the selections.  Just the uninformed opinion of somebody with no connections to the band and no musical talent -- all I'm qualified to comment on is entertainment value (which is highly subjective).

There is no such thing as bad publicity. 

Outside Ohio I run into people every day who can NOT, for the life of them, understand that the school I attended is not Miami University or Ohio State.  They get confused all the time.  The win over Georgetown helped a lot- but Rufus tackling Brutus as the Buckeye football team runs out onto the hallowed turf of Ohio Stadium is nothing short of memorable.  It runs the risk of being played again next year, or on blooper reels...etc. 

Now don't get me wrong...I'm not proud of it - but I'm just saying...it creates a buzz and that buzz clearly defines that there is an OHIO and there is, of course, an OHIO STATE.  Today, people are on line, on twitter, watching sportscenter and asking " Which mascot tackled the Buckeye?"  It was an Ohio Bobcat, from Athens. 

Of course Ohio State won the game - why shouldn't they?... that's not news - beating them would have been news... but a executing a Delta Tao Delta-like sophomoric prank before the big game in immortal Horseshoe?   That might end up on a top 100 list of college sports pranks someday. Its not a win, but it creates an impression.   I also have to say that hitting Brutus in the nuts was marketing genius - really.  Pulling his fuzzy nut mask off and breaking his nose would have been a terrible choice, but as a marketing move I ask you:  Where else are you going to hit a buckeye?

The best thing about this is the guy had been planning it for a year. He goes through a full year of practice, workouts, events and obligations, all knowing that on Sept. 18, 2010, he is going to go down in a blaze of glory.

Classic.

Now even ESPN is getting confused with this "we are Ohio, you are State!" nonsense.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!?   THOSE IDIOTS!!!!!!

All this talk of charging the kid with assault is nonsense.  All this talk of being embarrassed is nonsense.  The kid did something that can now be looked at as being out of line, but are we really going to crucify him?  I only wish he could: tackle or run fast or throw the football when the porous line let's all the defenders through.  If only he had a skill that could be used to our advantage.  How about we cheer for Donte Harden in 3 more weeks because we need a running game. Or how about we support a coach who made a poor decision one night not long ago.  But, they can do something for us. This out of control no good for nothing kid is useless to us.  PUT HIM UNDER THE JAIL!!!

Hypocrisy at it's finest.

You complain that we get Script Ohio from Michigan.

Just where do you think Marching 110 came from?  That's right.  Michigan.

Hey, we're getting too serious about old Rufus.  As long as that dorky Brutus didn't get hurt,  it is rather funny when you see the replays all over the internet today.  I think it's the most unusual mascot event since the Stanford Tree got nabbed for being a drunk tree a few years ago.    Stanford also took it too seriously.  It is getting OU a ton of  copy and video as others have noted.  Me thinks a lot of folks on here also think it was funny, even when they duth protest otherwise.  A college prank isn't classy, it's just  an, an, an  Animal House  event.  . 

HA! It's funny because it's true!

Chance of getting hurt?

That Brutus nut head has more padding than Riddel.

Sorry...I stopped being embarrassed by this.

It is pure awesome.