After spending all year talking about beating the team up north and going through workouts specifically tied in to playing The Game, Ohio State had that goal abruptly taken away on Tuesday afternoon, when Michigan announced it would be unable to make the trip to Columbus due to positive COVID-19 tests within its program.
So it certainly wasn’t easy for Ryan Day to deliver that news to his team on Tuesday, or for Ohio State’s players to come to terms with that news. But in a year that’s been full of ups and downs for the Buckeyes, they also recognize that they can’t spend much time dwelling on their disappointment, as they’re now set to play Northwestern in next week’s Big Ten Championship Game.
“You just don’t get that kind of news and move on. There’s just been so much invested in that game throughout the entire year,” Day said Thursday on his weekly radio show. “All the time, every day, we honor this game. But one of the things we’ve just had to learn to do is move on quickly. It’s easy to spend the time worrying about what’s coming next or getting frustrated on what happened yesterday, but the only thing you can do is just try to do the best you can and maximize the day.”
Instead of playing 12 regular-season games this year, Ohio State played just five. Non-conference games were canceled, the Big Ten shortened its regular season to eight games (after initially canceling the season altogether) and then individual games against Illinois, Maryland and Michigan were all canceled within the last month. So the Buckeyes have become conditioned to losing opportunities to play this year.
“We’ve been the highest of high, we’ve been the lowest of low … It’s just up and down and up and down,” director of sports performance Mickey Marotti said Thursday. “It kind of was a little numbing, to be honest with you. Just show up for work and ‘OK, let’s see what happens today.’”
“Early on, that was not easy for our team, but I think we’ve gotten a lot better at it, and quickly transitioned,” Day said.
As disappointing as it is that the Buckeyes won’t be able to play the rivalry game they prepare for all year long, they still have two major goals in front of them. That starts with next week’s Big Ten Championship Game, where Ohio State will have the opportunity to win its fourth straight conference title, and if it can do that, it will have at least a chance of being selected for the College Football Playoff.
Day is impressed by the way his team has responded to the disappointment of being unable to chase another pair of Gold Pants by continuing to work hard as the Buckeyes shift their attention to preparing for Northwestern.
“These kids have really become hardened, and the response that we had from our team was really pretty amazing,” Day said. “They were very devastated that we weren’t playing in that game. We’ve been really looking forward to playing these guys. All of us. I certainly have for awhile, and really wanted to play them in the worst way. But it got taken away, and then the focus became Northwestern. So they quickly pivoted. They became used to this flexibility, and things changing, and it was good to see the maturity of this team. I just really feel in my heart that this is gonna pay off somewhere down the line for us.”
Day said the Buckeyes were “very, very excited” when they received the news that the Big Ten had removed the six-game minimum to clear the way for them to make the trip to Indianapolis next week, and Day said “it was a deep sigh of relief knowing that we have an opportunity to play in the Big Ten Championship Game.”
“We get an opportunity to go for No. 4 here, which is really great. And we’re fired up about it,” Day said. “It’s just been a strange year. We’ve only played five games. We knew it was gonna be strange. We didn’t know how this would shake out. But the fact that we’re in this game and in Indy, that’s a goal accomplished.”
“I just really feel in my heart that this is gonna pay off somewhere down the line for us.”– Ryan Day on the disappointments his team has had to overcome this year
Day said the Buckeyes had “a great practice yesterday,” and will play a “mock game” on Friday after an unpadded practice Thursday. They’ll hold their unusual Sunday practice on Saturday, then watch the Northwestern-Illinois game together during a physically distanced meal on the indoor practice field. They’ll then take Sunday off before ramping up their preparation for the Wildcats on Monday.
While Ohio State would have still been without some players this week who tested positive for COVID-19 before the Illinois game was canceled, Day said that some of the players who were unavailable for the Michigan State game have now returned to practice – we know Tuf Borland and Josh Proctor are two of them – along with all of the coaches who were unable to make the trip to East Lansing, and the Buckeyes should have all the players who were sidelined by positive tests during Illinois week back for next week’s game. They have to continue to be as diligent about COVID-19 protocols as ever, though, so that other players don’t test positive and get sidelined for postseason games.
“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.”
