Ohio St. season in jeopardy
Buckeyes’ second cancellation puts Big Ten title at risk
Ohio State officials are unsure when the team can practice again, let alone play next week at Michigan State, after an outbreak of COVID-19 put the No. 3 Buckeyes’ Big Ten title hopes in danger.
“I have no clue what this afternoon or tomorrow will bring or next week will bring,” athletic director Gene Smith said Saturday.
Three more college football games across the country were canceled or postponed Saturday, including Florida State hosting Virginia. For the second straight week, the Seminoles had their home game called off hours before kickoff and after their opponent had already traveled to Tallahassee, Florida.
“We deeply regret that many Florida State and Virginia fans have already traveled to the game as well as Virginia’s team,” Florida State athletic director David Coburn said. “We simply had no way of knowing we would not be playing until this morning. We made every effort to play, but we could not do so in a way that was safe for the players.”
Ohio State canceled its Saturday game at Illinois on Friday night. Across college football, 19 of the 58 games originally scheduled for this week were called off because of COVID-19 issues.
The Buckeyes’ disruption could be the most significant, impacting the Big Ten and national championship race.
If Ohio State (4-0) cannot play its final two regular-season games it would likely not reach the minimum number (six) required to be eligible for the Big Ten championship game. The Buckeyes had an earlier game canceled because of a COVID outbreak at Maryland.
The College Football Playoff has no minimum number of games required to be eligible for selection.
Ohio State has paused all football activities. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said if the team could get back on the field by Thursday it might be able to play next Saturday.
Boise State: A few hours before kickoff, the Mountain West Conference canceled the game against San Jose State because of an “upward trend of COVID-19 cases and contact tracing” in the Broncos program. The cancellation came a few hours before kickoff. The game was to have featured two of the three unbeaten teams in conference play. It could have been a key decider in the race for a spot in the conference championship game. The conference said the game would be declared a no contest, and there is no plan to reschedule.
Buffalo: Jaret Patterson tied an FBS single-game record with eight rushing touchdowns and had the second-biggest rushing total with 409 yards to help the Bulls beat Kent State, 70-41. Patterson reached the TD mark set by Illinois running back Howard Griffith on Sept. 22, 1990, against Southern Illinois. He came within 18 yards of Samaje Perine’s single-game rushing record of 427 yards for Oklahoma against Kansas on Nov. 22, 2014.
Texas-el Paso: The team’s game Saturday at Rice UTEP was canceled on Saturday morning because of positive cases of COVID-19 and subsequent contact tracing within the Miners program.
Wake Forest: The school is pausing all football team activities until at least Wednesday because of recent positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing. Their home game next Saturday against No. 10 Miami has been postponed.