[ad_1]
Ohio State will resume team activities on Tuesday as they hope to play later this week at Michigan State.
The fourth-ranked Buckeyes suspended their activities Friday night and called off Saturday’s game in Illinois after an increase in COVID-19 cases in the program. Ohio State has not disclosed specific numbers of those who tested positive, although coach Ryan Day is one of them and will not be coaching in person if the Michigan State game has. held Saturday in East Lansing, Michigan.
Ohio State (4-0) will likely have to play this week and next week against Michigan to reach the six-game minimum required to qualify for the Big Ten Championship game. The Buckeyes are in first place in the East Division and hold a tiebreaker over top challenger Indiana after defeating the 12th Hoosiers, 42-35 on Nov. 21. Unless the Big Ten cancel 12 of their remaining 14 games, the six-game minimum will be needed to reach the title game on December 19 in Indianapolis.
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson would take over as head coach of the Buckeyes on Saturday.
On Saturday, team doctor Dr Jim Borchers said the state of Ohio, which “had essentially zero cases of COVID-19” all season, initially saw an increase in positive tests Wednesday and surpassed the Big Ten threshold for the population positivity rate after Friday’s results.
The team declined to reveal specific numbers or names on those who tested positive, saying only that players, coaches and support staff from its 170-member Level 1 loyal group had all been affected. On Saturday, athletic director Gene Smith repeatedly cited the increase in COVID-19 cases in Columbus and Franklin County in Ohio. The decisions to cancel and suspend activities were made within the university because the state of Ohio exceeded only one of the two Big Ten benchmark positivity rates, which would have forced the program to stop and stop for at least seven days.
“We know where we are now,” Smith said on Saturday. “We need to see if we have more of them and make sure that the young men who have tested negative continue to be negative. Our goal is to make sure they are all safe and healthy, but also to make sure that if we can play, when we go to East Lansing we’re going on a clean plane and we’re going to play on clean ground. “
[ad_2]
Source link