COVID imperils Buckeyes’ season
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State officials say they’re unsure when the team can practice again, let alone play next week at Michigan State, after an outbreak of COVID- 19 put the third- ranked 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.
Ohio State canceled its game Saturday 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 because it has an impact on the Big Ten and the national championship race.
If Ohio State ( 4- 0) can’t play its last 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.
This time, Ohio State has the outbreak. According to Jim Borchers, Ohio State’s team physician, the program had virtually no positive tests this season until Wednesday’s testing.
Borchers said the percentage of positive individuals among Ohio State players and staff hit one of the Big Ten’s warning “guideposts” on Friday night, leading officials to cancel the game against the Illini.
One of the positive tests was coach Ryan Day, who wouldn’t have been on the sideline even if the team had gone to Champaign.
Day, his voice slightly raspy, participated in a Zoom call with reporters Saturday and said: “I’m resting comfortably, but I have an extremely heavy heart.”
Players who test positive have a 10- day isolation period followed by a 10- day returnto- activity period under Big Ten protocols, Borchers said. So while Day might be able to return for the Buckeyes next week at Michigan State, the players who have tested positive will miss at least one more game — if the game is played at all.
Ohio State’s last regular- season game is Dec. 12 against Michigan, and the Buckeyes could play another on Dec. 19 even if they are not eligible for the Big Ten title game.
The College Football Playoff has no minimum number of games required to be eligible for selection.
Ohio State has paused all football activities. Day said if the team could get back on the field by Thursday, it might be able to play Saturday.
Borchers said the Big Ten benchmark that would have forced a seven- day shutdown — 5% positives of all tests administered — was not reached, so the decision to cancel Saturday’s game was made by Ohio State and was not forced. The positive tests were spread out among players and staff, with no identifiable clusters, he said.
“What we’re seeing in our case is kind of a community type of spread,” Smith said. “We didn’t see spikes in specific areas. Could we have played? Sure. Was it the right thing to play? No.”
Day said as the positive cases started to show Wednesday, the team adjusted its practice schedule, meeting virtually, no helmets or hitting on the field, everyone masked up.
“It wasn’t until [ Friday] when we did testing, and with enhanced testing, it got to a point where it became very clear that we needed to pause,” Borchers said of the late decision to cancel the game. “Unfortunately, this wasn’t a decision we could make early in the week.’’