While it’s uncertain whether Michigan will be able to play Ohio State next weekend, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is confident the Wolverines will do everything they can to try to make that game happen.
There have been conspiracy theories that Michigan, who is just 2-4 this season and projected to be a nearly four-touchdown underdog against Ohio State, might be looking for an excuse not to play that game. Realistically, Michigan might not be able to play no matter how much it wants to. Chris Thomas and David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press reported Friday that “Michigan athletic officials are pessimistic about their ability to travel to Columbus in two Saturdays for their annual football game against Ohio State” after at least a dozen members of the football program tested positive for COVID-19, which forced the Wolverines to cancel their game against Maryland this week and pause team activities until Monday.
Ohio State has shown that it is possible to come back from a similarly sized COVID-19 outbreak and play the following week, though, as the Buckeyes are set to play at Michigan State tomorrow despite canceling their game against Illinois last week. And Smith is hopeful that Michigan will be able to have similar success in curbing its COVID-19 positivity rate so that the Wolverines and Buckeyes can play their annual rivalry game at Ohio State next Saturday.
‘The team up north, they have a lot to play for, and I know that they’re having some challenges this week because they had to shut down, but I think they’ll be back,” Smith said this week on The Gene Smith Podcast. “I know they enhanced their protocols and they stopped on Monday so that gives them a good seven days to try and basically do what we did. Try and make the corrections that need to be made. And I think that they’ll be back, and we should be able to play, unless they have a rash (of cases) that’s uncontrollable. But I know they want to play, and I’m sure they’re working hard to make sure that they have a chance to play.”
For now, Ohio State is proceeding forward expecting to host The Game, which is also set to be the Buckeyes’ final regular-season game and final home game of the year. That means it will also be Ohio State’s Senior Day, and Smith revealed that although there are currently no fans allowed at any Ohio State athletic events, there have been conversations about hopefully at least allowing the parents of seniors to attend their sons’ final home game.
“We’re gonna recognize our seniors virtually. Big Ten Network and Fox are gonna do some things for our seniors, and not just for our team, but for all the teams in the league where they’re trying to do some senior tributes through BTN throughout the week. And then we’ll do some things in the game,” Smith said. “Pregame, of course, on the video board. But we’ll be doing things throughout the game to recognize our seniors virtually. So we’re blessed to have an unbelievable creative team and video crew, so they’re gonna put some things together. And we’re not sure yet, but we’re having conversations about parents of seniors and whether or not we can find a way to have them at the contest. We haven’t made that decision yet, but we’re working on it. So we’ll definitely pay tribute to them.”
“I know they want to play, and I’m sure they’re working hard to make sure that they have a chance to play.”– Gene Smith on Michigan
Over the course of his 25-minute podcast this week, Smith also shared some new details about the events of last week that ultimately led to the cancellation of the Illinois game, his thoughts on how the College Football Playoff selection process could unfold over the next two weeks and some of the additional financial strain the athletic department has faced this year.
OSU Explored 3:30 Kickoff, Sunday Game Against Illinois
While the COVID-19 tests that ultimately forced Ohio State to call off its trip to Champaign popped up on Wednesday, Ohio State went all the way until Friday night before ultimately making the decision that it couldn’t play last Saturday. As you would expect, though, Smith and Ohio State were in constant communication with Illinois – as well as the Big Ten and Fox, who was set to televise the game – throughout the week, and the possibility of the game being played at a time other than noon on Saturday was broached.
Before canceling the game on Friday night, Ohio State had planned to fly to Illinois on Saturday morning, and because of that, the two schools and the Big Ten had worked out an arrangement with Fox to move kickoff back to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, though that was never formally announced before the cancellation. Smith said they even discussed the option of playing on Sunday, though that wasn’t a route Illinois particularly wanted to proceed forward with.
Smith said there were daily calls between him and team physician Jim Borchers, Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman and team doctor Randy Ballard and Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and assistant commissioner Kerry Kenny to determine how they should proceed forward.
“We began to just talk about if-then scenarios along the way, and actually Josh was phenomenal,” Smith said. “We worked with our television partners on Friday actually, Kevin did a great job with them, and they were willing to move the game back (to 3:30) because we wanted to fly up Saturday morning. And then we actually talked about Sunday a little bit as an alternative. Really didn’t want to go there, because Illinois has Iowa (this week), so we were trying to avoid that competitive situation. So we were hopeful Friday night that we would go up Saturday morning, play at 2:30 Central and be fine.
“We were hopeful all the way into the middle part of Friday that we might be able to play against Illinois, and then our testing results came in later that evening, and we ultimately had to cancel.”
Day Had “No Hesitation” Naming Johnson Interim Coach
Even before Ryan Day tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday, Smith had already talked to Day about who would fill in for him as acting head coach if that situation was to arise. And he said Day’s answer was immediate that defensive line coach and associate head coach Larry Johnson should be the next man up.
“When I called Ryan, this was before he had COVID, and we had a conversation about if-then scenarios, and asked him about ‘OK, who’s in charge if he goes down?’ And didn’t anticipate it happening, but Larry was his first choice. It was no hesitation, it was no pause, it was instant, Larry was the guy,” Smith said. “And I think that that’s representative of the fact that Ryan understands that this team needs someone who connects with them.
“The motivation, the care around their individual situation or just the group as a whole, Larry gets it. Larry’s so connected to kind of the vibe of the team. And they relate to him. So as we move into the Michigan State game, the motivation is gonna be huge, and he’s gonna contribute to that. So I thought when Ryan said it, I thought it was the perfect choice, and I’m really glad he’s in that seat.”
Smith Thinks CFP Should Prioritize Conference Titles
Smith knows how challenging a job the College Football Playoff selection committee has in selecting which four teams should get the opportunity to play for a national championship, because he was on the selection committee himself in 2017 and 2018. He’s glad he’s not on the committee this year, knowing how much more challenging that job has become in a year where teams aren’t playing the same number of games and are having games canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Man, I can’t imagine what it’s like this year, because you have so much happening with different leagues and different teams and cancellations and things of that nature,” Smith said.
As Smith said on the day the Big Ten announced it would play an abbreviated season beginning in late October, he still believes the eye test will be a bigger factor in determining this year’s field of four than it has been in past years. He has reason to want that to be the case, as that could benefit Ohio State, who currently sits fourth in the CFP rankings.
“I think the eye test probably rises to more importance this year than any time,” Smith said. “There’s 13 great people in the room, they all got football backgrounds and some more than others, and I know we always watch film as a committee, but I’m sure they’re watching even more. And I think that that’s probably what’s provided us an opportunity to stay in the top four, because we are talented, extremely talented, very prolific offensively and our defense is, we’re tough enough, and it’s gonna get better. So I think that that respect for our talent probably has helped us, even though we haven’t played as many games as others. We have a Heisman contender at quarterback, and a number of other athletes who when drafted will be high draft choices.”
Smith also said that he believes conference championships – even though Ohio State still may or may not have the opportunity to play in the Big Ten Championship Game, depending on what happens with the Michigan game next week – should be weighed more heavily this year given that teams have played an uneven number of games.
“In the end, I would hope the championships will take a higher priority than they have in some years previous,” Smith said. “I’ve always been one of those guys that felt like championships matter, regular-season record and championships matter more than anything. And so, we’ll see how it rolls.”
The Financial Costs of COVID-19
With no fans other than family members at football games this season, and no fans at all so far for basketball and other sports, Smith said Ohio State has taken a hit of more than $60 million in lost ticket sales. He said the athletic department, which remains self-supported, is working with Ohio State chief financial officer Michael Papadakis “to develop a long-term debt and recovery strategy, but all of our other ancillary revenues have been hit significantly,” including trademark and licensing and sponsorships.
That said, Smith said the response to the athletic department’s Higher Purpose campaign – for which all funds are going directly toward the “circle of care” for Ohio State athletes – has been “phenomenal.” And he outlined some of the additional costs Ohio State has incurred as a result of the pandemic that those funds have helped cover.
“We’re able to use those dollars to help fund their nutrition plan for our kids in isolation. We’re able to provide them with some workout equipment, bands and rollers and mats and things of that nature, and those things add up, so we’re able to help them with that,” Smith said. “We’ll have some (winter and spring sports) athletes come back a little earlier than school will start because of the schedules that we anticipate that they’ll have, but we’ll be able to bring them back and feed them and get them in the testing protocols earlier than the Big Ten testing protocols, and those dollars help us do that.”
He said Ohio State also used those funds to help pay for the PCR testing that Ohio State implemented for the football team this week that supplement the POC testing being provided to each school by the Big Ten. He said Ohio State will also use money from the Higher Purpose campaign to help pay for summer class tuition for scholarship athletes, so that athletes can continue to take advantage of those opportunities, which he says have been a crucial aspect of Ohio State’s high graduation rates for athletes.
