At 1:16 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, Pete Werner made the point that Ohio State couldn’t bother itself with worrying that the Michigan game would get called off due to coronavirus issues. To the senior linebacker speaking on a midweek Zoom press conference, it quite clearly wasn’t worth the concern within the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“Obviously there's speculation, but we can't think that,” he said. “We've got to go in this week knowing we're going to play a game. We're not going to prepare any different at all and everybody on the team is going to have the same mindset going into this week. That's going to be the key because if there's one switch and everybody has a little doubt about this game, then it's not going to go well. We've got to have everybody on the right track.
“We've got to prepare for this game harder than we ever have. That's going to be the key.”
At 1:19 p.m., a 14-word tweet from The Wolverine’s Chris Balas appeared. It was the one everybody in Columbus – including Werner – had hoped they wouldn’t see: “SOURCE: The Ohio State vs. Michigan game will be canceled. Expect an announcement soon.”
As that was sent into the Twittersphere, Werner was in the middle of discussing sophomore left tackle Dawand Jones, a fellow Indiana native who’d just made his first career start on Saturday. Within the minute, as Werner continued talking, Ohio State sports information director Jerry Emig answered a call on his phone while on mute. It was hard not to wonder: Was he hearing the official word of the cancelation?
After Werner wrapped up an answer to the second question about Jones, Emig concluded Werner’s interview and brought up Justin Hilliard for his time in front of reporters. Barely two minutes into his time with the media, Michigan dropped the bombshell: The Game had been canceled.
Hilliard, a sixth-year linebacker who’s been through hell and back to keep his college football career going, found himself in the unfortunate position of being in front of the computer when the news dropped.
One of the four dozen reporters on the call broke the news to Hilliard: “Justin, I hate to do this to you, but it looks like news is breaking that the game has been canceled. I'm just wondering your thoughts on that, hearing that.”
Hilliard: “What game’s been canceled?”
After it was explained to him, Hilliard said, “Well, I’m not going to speak on that. That’s not something I heard from the coaches here,” and Emig ended his press conference. It was the news Hilliard didn’t want to hear. The news nobody who addressed reporters on Tuesday’s press conference wanted to hear.
In fact, almost every Ohio State coach and player who attended the interview session before it abruptly came to a close was asked about what they’d feel if the game wasn’t able to be played. To a man, they didn’t even want to consider the possibility.
Justin Fields was first.
“I mean, we're preparing for the Team Up North,” he said. “We're not preparing for anybody else. If you read too much into that stuff, you might not play the game, and then if you end up playing the game, then you're not fully prepared. So you can't worry about the future. You can't worry about, 'Oh, we might not play this game.' You have to take each day at a time and you have to prepare like you're playing the Team Up North on Saturday, so that's what we're doing.”
Kerry Coombs followed him.
You're right, I don't want to go there,” he said when the topic of a potential cancelation was broached. “I just got sick to my stomach when you said that. We're preparing to play. I think we're going to play. This game's been a part of my life since I was 5 years old. We all want to play this game. This game means a lot. We all want to play.”
Ryan Day was next.
“I try not to go there,” he said. “Just the disappointment and all that stuff is getting old. So we'll just try to stay positive and try to focus on the game until we hear otherwise. You asked the question. You kind of know what the answer would be. Let's not go there. Let's just try to focus on the game and get ready to play the game until we hear otherwise.”
Day didn’t want to go there. Within the hour, he had to go there. He and his whole team did.
As everyone within the program harps on constantly, the Buckeyes spend 365 days preparing to beat Michigan. Even during their isolated workouts at home by themselves earlier this year, they were assigned “Team Up North” drills to do alone. Ohio State lives for The Game.
Now, because of the coronavirus-spurred cancellation, it’ll have to wait around an extra year to play it.
