Anytime any kind of negative news breaks for the Ohio State football program, the criticism comes out, hard. Knowing that the Buckeye football program is one of the historical elite on the field and has racked up numerous individual and team awards throughout its illustrious history, there are those that believe OSU will put a product on the field in spite of everything true and moral.
We saw that be the narrative when Jim Tressel got in hot water (and was forced to resign), we saw it other disciplinary actions, and we especially witnessed it during the Zach Smith/Urban Meyer investigation.
Heck, we even heard about it when Ohio State pushed hard for its student-athletes to be able to play football this fall even though several other conferences and teams continued to forge ahead without the same level of criticism in the face of a pandemic.
Stop it. It’s not true.
If you had any questions about that, they should be put to rest today because Ohio State just made the call to cancel a football game it desperately needed to play, and win. And it did it despite not crossing the thresholds set up by the Big Ten’s Medical Subcommittee to shut things down.
While providing an update to COVID-19 outbreak on the team today on a ZOOM presser, both Dr. Jame Borchers and athletic director Gene Smith reiterated that the safety of the student-athletes was the priority and modus operandi throughout this season.
The team did pass the 7.5 percent population threshold, but not the overall positive 5 percent test threshold outlined for guideposts and decision data points on playing. In other words, the Buckeyes could have thrown caution to the wind, boarded a plane at the eleventh hour this morning, parachuted into Memorial Stadium with pads on, and played a very meaningful game for the program. The very thing you would expect of a program looking to win at all costs.
“Could we have played? Sure,” Gene Smith said. “Was it the right thing to pay? No.”
[lawrence-related id=41264]
Gene Smith says discussions on modifying the six-game eligibility requirement may come up later with the Big Ten, but that's not even a thought right now.
— Phil Harrison (@PhilHarrisonBW) November 28, 2020
That sounds like the exact opposite of a team and program that will elbow its way through integrity and class just to notch another win. As much as Ohio State has gone out of its way to protect student-athlete privacy by not publicly publishing the exact numbers of positive test results, it could have kept some of this in relative darkness and went ahead with a game.
But it didn’t.
Instead, Ohio State is now just one game away from not being eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. A team has to have played six games to be considered for the game per Big Ten policy this year. That is now the most OSU can be a part of if both of the last two can still be played. Smith addressed any discussions had with the conference on perhaps changing that policy.
“That’s not what we are here team … I get the question. I’m very sensitive to that,” Smith said. “But that’s not where we are. We made a decision late last night to do what we did.”
Gene Smith says discussions on modifying the six-game eligibility requirement may come up later with the Big Ten, but that's not even a thought right now.
— Phil Harrison (@PhilHarrisonBW) November 28, 2020
[lawrence-related id=41258]
With two games now scratched because of the coronavirus pandemic, OSU is also potentially taking a hit to its College Football Playoff perception, one in which it was already barely in the top four upon the initial rankings.
Less games mean fewer data points. The fewer the data points and tape available for the CFP Committee could mean the difference between Ohio State getting a crack at the Playoff vs. being relegated to another, less-meaningful (and less money) bowl.
The Buckeyes could have put up some huge numbers and enhanced its resume and perception. Quarterback Justin Fields could have slung the ball around Memorial Stadium for a ton of yards and scored a few touchdowns to enhance his Heisman standing. They won’t. He can’t.
And it’s all because the Ohio State brass, including AD Gene Smith, head coach Ryan Day, and Dr. James Borchers made a decision to protect the student-athletes at Ohio State and Illinois.
So yeah, win at all costs? Not quite. Not in the least.
[listicle id=40242]
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
Download the USA TODAY SportsWire app to follow Buckeyes Wire and your other favorite teams in the Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.