Ohio State football reportedly has at least 13 people impacted by COVID
By Scott Rogust
The Ohio State Buckeyes are dealing with a massive COVID-19 outbreak following the cancelation of their game against Illinois.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were scheduled to play the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday at noon. However, the wheels began to fall off the proverbial wagon after it was revealed that head coach Ryan Day tested positive for COVID-19. With Day out, Larry Johnson was going to be the interim head coach for the game. However, the game was ultimately canceled on Friday evening due to an unspecified number of positive coronavirus tests that afternoon.
According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, Ohio State could be dealing with at least 13 players, coaches and staff members affected by COVID-19 when factoring in contact tracing.
Ohio St team physician will not name the NUMBER of players impacted due to "privacy" concerns. Given thresholds mentioned, it looks like at least 13 staff, coaches & players were impacted. "Could we have played? Sure. Was it the right thing to play? No." -- Gene Smith
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) November 28, 2020
Ohio State dealing with uncertainty due to COVID
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said on Saturday the team could have played but he didn’t feel it was the right thing to do. It’s certainly understandable, given the number of new COVID-19 cases are spiking across the country.
As for those who tested positive, players will not be able to play in the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 19 due to the conference’s 21-day holdout rule. Furthermore, if the Buckeyes were to have one of their upcoming games against Michigan State (Dec. 5) or Michigan (Dec. 12) canceled, they’d be ineligible to qualify for the championship game if a team were to not play more than two games this season. Ohio State already had two games canceled this season — this week against Illinois and their scheduled game against Maryland on Nov. 14.
The only thing Ohio State can do at this moment is to wait and see if the team can practice this upcoming Thursday. If not, then their Big Ten title chances are all but done.
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