Ryan Day has delivered a lot of bad news to the Ohio State football team this year.
Beginning in March, Day had to tell the Buckeyes that spring practice was canceled and the players had to go home and quarantine due to the quickly spreading COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-August, after the Scarlet and Gray were prepared to play, Day had to tell the team there would be no season.
Once the season was back, twice Day had to inform his players that a game was canceled, once from his home because he tested positive for COVID-19 along with a number of players.
All of these have been difficult updates to provide the team. But on Tuesday, Day delivered the toughest news of all when he informed the Buckeyes that the annual rivalry game against Michigan would not be played due to COVID-19 issues with the Wolverines.
“I’m tired of giving the team bad news,” Day said on his radio show on 97.1 The Fan on Thursday. “It was another one of those days.”
Any game canceled is an opportunity lost for Ohio State. The Buckeyes, already playing a shortened season, want to be on the field as much as possible, both to get better and to showcase the team in the hopes of being selected for the College Football Playoff.
But losing this game is different. It’s the rivalry. It’s The Game. It’s the one that Ohio State spends not just the week of preparing for but 365 days per year working toward.
“You don’t just get that kind of news and you move on,” Day said. “We’ve just had so much invested in that game. Throughout the entire year, we play that game all the time, every day we honor this game.
“They were very devastated that they weren’t playing that game. We’ve been really looking forward to playing these guys. All of us. I certainly have for a while and really wanted to play them in the worst way.”
In addition, Saturday was expected to be senior day at Ohio Stadium, the last time for most of the 27 Buckeye seniors to walk out onto that field. This is typically a day where fans get to honor these players for their years in scarlet and gray and families get to celebrate their legacy. While this year would have been different due to no fans in the stadium, it still is a normal privilege that these Ohio State players no longer will receive.
Frustration has been a theme of 2020 for the Scarlet and Gray. From learning the Big Ten wasn’t going to have a season despite other conferences playing to having the game against Michigan canceled, there have been disappointments throughout the year.
What this has done, however, is make this team used to dealing with the news that Day has to deliver and figure out a way to process and move on. That’s exactly what the Buckeyes did in this instance.
“The only thing you can do in this 2020 is just try to do the best you can and just try and maximize the day,” Day said. “Early on, that was not easy for our team but I think we’ve gotten a lot better at it. I think we’ve transitioned. And it wasn’t a bunch of guys with their heads down. They were frustrated, they were angry but they were able to quickly transition again. I thought that was great.”
Fortunately, Day had some good news to deliver to his team not long after The Game was canceled. On Wednesday, the Big Ten announced it had eliminated the six-game rule to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. This meant the 5-0 Buckeyes were heading to Indianapolis to compete for their fourth straight Big Ten title.
“That was good to be able to give them some good news,” Day said. “They were very, very excited about that. It was a deep sigh of relief knowing that we have an opportunity to play in the Big Ten Championship Game.”
The Scarlet and Gray received more good news in the form of some players returning after missing the game prior due to positive COVID-19 tests or close contact. Ohio State tweeted out pictures from practice that included linebacker Tuf Borland and safety Josh Proctor, both of who missed the previous game. Others will be available again in time for the conference championship game as well.
“We’re in a pretty good place right now with that. But it’s day-to-day,” Day said. “So the good news is, the guys that were affected with it the last week or so are starting to get back into the rhythm, we’re getting them back into practice and they should be ready to roll for the game. But at the same time, everyone else has gotta be really on top of their game and really being careful.”
Ohio State was able to turn the page and the focus quickly shifted from the disappointment of losing the Michigan game to Northwestern, the Big Ten West winners.
