Michigan pessimistic about OSU, report says
University of Michigan athletic officials are pessimistic about their ability to travel to Columbus in two Saturdays for their annual football game against Ohio State, three people with direct knowledge of the situation told the Free Press.
The pessimism comes as officialsconduct contact tracing and await testing results on players and staff. At least adozenmembersof the football program tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, causing a shutdown of the program and Saturday’ s game against Maryland, sources said. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the outbreak.
The contact tracing and the concern aboutmore positive tests stems from the hours after last week’s loss to Penn State, the Free Press has learned.
According to the three sources, players were present at a number of small gatherings after the Penn State game to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact roleof those gatherings in the outbreak, sources said, but there is belief in the program that Saturday played a role in accelerating the outbreak. The gatherings are believed to have taken place in settings among players and also in settings among parents and players, sources said.
U-M had worked to disc ourage any gatherings over the Thanksgiving weekend, including during amid-week call last week with players’ families to tell them not to gather, program spokesman David Ab lauf told the Free Press.
It’s not unusual for players to eat together, he added.
In his weekly news conference this week, Michigan coach Jim H ar ba ugh acknowledged at least one player tested positive before Saturday’s game against Penn State. On Monday, the program shifted to virtual team activities while it a waited confirmatory testing results.
The outbreak comes despite Michigan being outspoken about its successful implementation of player safety protocols during the pandemic. The news has helped to fuel conspiracy theories - including from ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit - that theWolverines, who are 2-4 this season, might try toavoid playingNo. 4 Ohio State (4-0) to avoid an embarrassing defeatandalso sabotage the Buckeyes’ bid for a Big Ten championship.
Harbaugh is0-5 as a coach against Ohio State.
“I have to pause because my words, the anger, I was infuriated by the insinuation that Michiganwould do anything other than play a football game,” Michigan athletic director Ward en Manuel said Wednesday, in a stern rebuke of Herbstreit’s comments. “We’ ve been playing this game since 1879. We’re the winningest program for a reason, becausewe playwhoever’s in front of us. The only waywe want to keep anybody from moving on is to beat them on the field.”