Ohio State athletes cleared for return after COVID-19 stoppage
By John Buhler
Ohio State football can resume voluntary activities after brief shutdown.
It’s not a huge win, but it’s something, as Ohio State football can resume activities.
The Ohio State University shut down its voluntary offseason activities for its student-athletes in the wake of a coronavirus outbreak. Testing from July 7 had halted these voluntary activities since July 8, but Ohio State student-athletes can get back to it as of Tuesday, July 14.
“Our Buckeyes are excited to be headed into a new school year and were disappointed last week when we had to temporarily suspend training,” said Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith.
“These young people come from across the nation and the world to be part of our Ohio State family, and we do everything we can to create a safe, healthy environment so that they have a chance to study and compete. Our medical team will continue to evaluate, and we will share decisions as we move forward.”
What else can we glean from the positive Ohio State football news?
While Smith had been pessimistic about us getting a college football season, having the student-athletes at his university be able to return to voluntary workouts after only a six-day hiatus is certainly something positive. Though the Big Ten is one of two Power 5 conferences to go conference-only this upcoming college football season, Ohio State is the favorite in the Big Ten.
Ohio State is one of a few of teams expected to make the College Football Playoff this season. If the Buckeyes aren’t playing for a national title, they did not live up to lofty expectations. With arguably their most talented quarterback of all time in Justin Fields entering what will probably be his last season of college football, it’s now or never to win it with him under head coach Ryan Day.
Going conference-only may end up being adopted by the rest of the Power 5. Thus far, it’s the Big Ten and the Pac-12 who have decided to go that route. The ACC, the Big 12 and the SEC will make their decisions about how they’re going to approach college football this year at the end of the month. Conference-only is a means to ensure testing is uniform across an entire league.
Though it’s not everything, it is something Ohio State athletes can resume voluntary activities.
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