<P> Each time the formation drill is performed , a different fourth - or fifth - year sousaphone player is chosen to stand as the dot in the `` i '' of `` Ohio . '' Because the Script Ohio formation was one of many new formations included by director Weigel , no extra emphasis was placed on the dotting . Originally , an E-flat cornet player , John Brungart , was the first `` i '' - dotter . Brungart dotted the `` i '' two more times that season , in performances during halftime shows against Pittsburgh and Chicago . The first recorded instance of a sousaphone player dotting the i was the final game of the 1936 season on November 21 at home versus Michigan . In the fall of 1937 , Weigel turned to Glen Johnson , a sousaphone player , and shouted , `` Hey , you ! Switch places with the trumpet player in the dot . '' A year later , when the drum major arrived at the top of the `` i '' three or four measures too early , Johnson turned and bowed to the crowd to use up the rest of the music . The bow has been part of the show since then . Glen then became the second sousaphone player to dot the `` i '' on October 23 , 1937 . Since then , a sousaphone player has dotted the `` i '' over 800 times . </P>
<P> Each time the formation drill is performed , a different fourth - or fifth - year sousaphone player is chosen to stand as the dot in the `` i '' of `` Ohio . '' Because the Script Ohio formation was one of many new formations included by director Weigel , no extra emphasis was placed on the dotting . Originally , an E-flat cornet player , John Brungart , was the first `` i '' - dotter . Brungart dotted the `` i '' two more times that season , in performances during halftime shows against Pittsburgh and Chicago . The first recorded instance of a sousaphone player dotting the i was the final game of the 1936 season on November 21 at home versus Michigan . In the fall of 1937 , Weigel turned to Glen Johnson , a sousaphone player , and shouted , `` Hey , you ! Switch places with the trumpet player in the dot . '' A year later , when the drum major arrived at the top of the `` i '' three or four measures too early , Johnson turned and bowed to the crowd to use up the rest of the music . The bow has been part of the show since then . Glen then became the second sousaphone player to dot the `` i '' on October 23 , 1937 . Since then , a sousaphone player has dotted the `` i '' over 800 times . </P>
who dotted the i at ohio state today
who dotted the i at ohio state today
Brungart
Brungart