Hoosiers Now

Big Ten Daily (Nov. 29): Despite COVID Outbreak, Ohio State Looks to Play Saturday

Ohio State needs to play its final two games to qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game and keep its playoff hopes alive, so they'll try anything to get on the field. Also, more bad news for Northwestern and Purdue, but good news finally for Penn State.

Tom Brew

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ohio State is the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes have been considered the best team in the league for years. No one's been able to stop them on the field, but COVID-19 is keeping them off of it.

And it just might ruin their season.

Ohio State had a rash of positive COVID tests last week and was forced to cancel its game with Illinois. Two weeks earlier, they couldn't play because their Week 4 opponent, Maryland, had a similar issue.

Big Ten rules say a team must play at least six games to qualify for the conference title game. That means the 4-0 Buckeyes must play Saturday at Michigan State and again on Dec. 12 to be eligible

That might be easier said that done, but OSU athletic director Gene Smith said Saturday that they will try to find a way. He was asked about requesting rules changes from the Big Ten, but he's not ready to go there.

Not yet, anyway.

“My concern today is making sure our players get fed, and making sure if they need a sports psychologist's help, they get that," Smith said Saturday. "I get the question. I'm very sensitive to that. But that’s not where we are. We made a decision late (Friday) night to do what we did, so a lot of things occurred late. So that last thing on my mind was [potential changes to the protocol]."

While recognizing that those conversations are not on the forefront of his mind, Smith didn't totally rule out trying to have those conversations

“Might that come up later at some point? No question. But right now, I haven’t even thought about it,” Smith said. “I want to make sure (Ohio State coach Ryan Day) has what he needs, and I want to make sure the young men that have tested positive have what they need.

"I want to continue to talk to our doctors and others about whatever enhanced protocols we move forward with to give them a chance to possibly play Michigan State.”

Ohio State has eclipsed the 7.5 percent threshold for the Population Positivity Rate, but not that 5 percent threshold in the Test Positivity Rate.

"The thresholds that the Big Ten has put in place — that the medical subcommittee has put in place — I don't think any team in our league has actually hit those," Smith said. "I don't think so. I might be wrong, but I don't think so. But we are making a decision not just on the thresholds, we are making a decision based upon what we see.

"In our particular case, what we are seeing is a community-type of spread. We didn't see spikes in specific areas.''

Smith says his main focus is on getting student-athletes and coaches everything they need to get and stay healthy. Their sole focus is on the now, and giving themselves the best chance to play next Saturday against Michigan State 

Day said he wouldn't need much time to get ready for a game if the team could have a  hard practice on Thursday and a walk-through on Friday.

"The thing that we fear the most, every time those test results come back, you hold your breath every day to see what's going on and how you're team's doing, and here we are this week," said Ohio State coach Ryan Day, who also tested positive. "... We're hoping to get some of these tests back, get some good news there, and then put the focus towards Michigan State."

If Ohio State doesn't qualify for the title game, Indiana will go. The Hoosiers beat Maryland Saturday to finish 5-1 in the Big Ten East, solidly in second place behind the Buckeyes. Ohio State beat Indiana 42-35 on Nov. 21.

Penn State finally gets first win

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford returned with fire, the defense made a fourth-down stop after a moment of chaos and a five-game losing streak ended Saturday at Michigan Stadium.

Penn State defeated the Wolverines 27-17 to avoid its first six-game losing streak since 2004. Coach James Franklin was beside himself describing the win, his first at Michigan Stadium and the program's first there since 2009.

"We just played gutsy," he said. "... They stood in the corner and took body blows and head shots and they kept swinging, and I'm just really, really proud of them." For the complete game story, CLICK HERE

Ramsey, Northwestern stunned by Michigan State

Northwestern was cruising toward a Big Ten title, but then got stunned by lowly Michigan State, losing 29-20 in East Lansing.

With the loss, the Wildcats fell to 5-1 overall. They still control their own destiny, but need to beat Minnesota and Illinois to end the season. Wisconsin has only one loss but hasn't played enough games to qualify for the title game. Iowa is 4-2 but would need two wins and two Wildcats losses since Northwestern beat Iowa in Week 2.

Quarterback Peyton Ramsey, the graduate transfer from Indiana, had his first bad game at Northwestern. He had two interceptions   and no touchdown passes while completing only 21 of 43 passes for 210 yards. He forced throws that could have resulted in a couple of other interceptions too.

“We have to make plays when we have opportunity to make plays,” Ramsey said. “There were plenty out there, especially on third down. We have to execute better and that’s what it comes down to.”

Northwestern still controls its own destiny, but now it needs to finish it off. Saturday's game with Minnesota is still up in the air, because the Gophers had to cancel last week's game because of COVID.

So it's wait-and-see for the Wildcats, but be ready at the same time, too.

“It will be essential,” Fitzgerald said. “We have great leadership. We’ve been in a lot of tight games. I think our guys are confident.”

Purdue fans frustrated after loss to Rutgers

Lowly Rutgers, which snapped a 21-game conference losing streak earlier this year, beat Purdue with its third-string quarterback on Saturday. Rutgers won 37-30, handing the Boilermakers their third straight loss. 

The Boilermakers are 2-3 now and finish the regular season with a home game against Nebraska and a trip to Bloomington to take on Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Purdue fans were angry after the embarrassing defeat at home. In Purdue's last 17 Big Ten games, the Boilermakers are just 6-11.

Here's the angst from fans;

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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