"I really can't imagine your entire fan base NOT going apeshit had a Buckeye shit on one of your traditions."
You're right, they would - if it was intentional. Sure, the unavoidable douchebags among us would get stupid over any slight, real or perceived, but the sensible ones would presume innocence on the part of the malefactor.
Case in point - our big tradition is the Tunnel Walk, during which the players enter the stadium and touch the lucky horseshoe. Last game, Wisconsin took the field at the same time as the Huskers, ostensibly stealing our thunder. Do you remember the hue and cry over this?
No. No you don't. Why? Because nobody cared. It's just not worth it. They weren't pissing on our tradition, they were just trying to take the field and get their game on. That's all our kicker was doing.
If the worst thing we ever do to you guys is have our kicker take warmups at the wrong time, we'll probably all recover from this.