Big Ten Daily (Dec. 5): Justin Fields Travels With Ohio State to Michigan State

Unbeaten Ohio State has been dealing with COVD-19 issues for two weeks, but it appears that enough players got on the plane Friday night to play their game at Michigan State.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ohio State's COVID-19 situation has been shrouded in secrecy all week, and whether the Buckeyes could actually hit the field on Saturday at Michigan State has been in doubt.

But on Friday night, a plane took off from Columbus, and it was filled with enough players to take on the Spartans today at Noon ET. And most importantly, star quarterback Justin Fields was on the plane, which he that he was not one of the players who contracted the virus.

Those who have are forced to miss 21 days because of the Big Ten's protocols in dealing with the virus. It is unknown how many players have the virus because Ohio State does not release the names of players who are held out.

🛫#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/qfH5TAZJzN

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 5, 2020

We do know that Ohio State coach Ryan Day tested positive, and he did not make the trip to East Lansing. But the fact that the Buckeyes did take off means that they have every intention of playing on Saturday. They still have to pass another round of tests on Saturday morning.

Ohio State traveled to Illinois last week, but pulled the plug on the game after more positive tests. They also missed a game earlier this season when Maryland was having COVID issues inside their program.

Because the 4-0 Buckeyes have already missed two games, they only way they can currently qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game is by playing the last two games, today against Michigan State and next Saturday (Dec. 12) vs. Michigan. The Wolverines have their own COVID issues and were forced to cancel their game this week at home against Maryland (see next item). Next week's Michigan game with the Buckeyes is also in doubt.

Ohio State is No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, but really needs to play more games to be assured of a spot in the playoffs. The Big Ten had planned on all 14 teams playing on Dec. 19, the day of the conference title game. Indiana could still be the Big Ten East representative if Ohio State doesn't qualify, but the league still may step in and make some adjustments.

Still, it's nice to see those Ohio State players on the plane. Now let's see if they can be there for kickoff in East Lansing. The Spartans are 2-3 and have struggled mightily at times this season, but they did pull off the upset of the season last week in beating 5-0 Northwestern. Here's the game preview. CLICK HERE 

Should Michigan's ineptness really count?

When Michigan was forced to cancel its game with Maryland this week, it seta dubious record of sorts for the Wolverines, who are 2-4 and have been awful this season under Jim Harbaugh.

Since their final game next week is on the road at Ohio State, the Wolverines are going to finish the regular season with an 0-3 record at home. It's the first time ever in the long and storied history of the Michigan program that they went winless at home during a season.

Michigan was destroyed by Wisconsin, but then also lost home games as a favorite to Michigan State and Penn State, who were both winless at the time of the defeats. It's been pretty embarrassing inside the Big House, the one place where it was probably good that there wasn't an angry mob of fans in  the stands.

My Sports Illustrated colleagues at Wolverine Digest weighed in on whether that should count as a record, since the season was so short. Here's what publisher Brandon Brown had to say.

"I think the mark should count, but I'm OK with an asterisk of some sort. The season was shortened and Michigan only had four (three after the cancellation of the Maryland game) home games, but still. I know Michigan only had those three chances to win at home, but striking out is not acceptable. Everyone is going to remember that 2020 was bananas, but the losses to Michigan State and Penn State are just bad.

"The Spartans are lacking talent in a big way and have a first-year head coach in Mel Tucker trying to get his version of the program off the ground. Penn State hadn't won a game yet and was missing its two best players and top two running backs. Michigan just shouldn't be losing to those teams inside The Big House even if it is missing about 110,000 fans.

"I've seen some argue that it simply can't count because Michigan didn't have out of conference games to play. So that's where Michigan football is...in need of out of conference cupcakes to win a home game. Man, what a state of affairs.''

Penn State will be back, OC says

Kirk Ciarrocca, Penn State's first-year offensive coordinator, said he has been through less productive seasons than this one and, more often than not, managed to emerge from them successfully. He predicted the same for Penn State's offense.

"We'll be back on top in no time," Ciarrocca said Thursday. "I feel like the pieces are there, and we just have to continue to grind and trust the process."

Ciarrocca's meeting with the media was his first contact during the season, which has been frustrating as can be during this 1-5 start.  There have been quarterback issues and injuries galore at running back.

Here's the complete Q&A from Ciarrocca's interview from our Sports Illustrated colleagues at All Penn State. CLICK HERE