According to the University of Maryland’s athletics program, Saturday’s football game against The Ohio State University — and all other football activities — have been canceled for the time being due to a COVID outbreak among UMD players.
Maryland football is referring to the cancellation of Saturday’s game (to be held at UMD) as a “pause” after eight football players tested positive for the coronavirus in the past week.
“There is nothing more important than the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” said UMD’s Director of Athletics Damon Evans. “We realize that this news is disappointing to all of the Maryland fans out there who were looking forward to the Terps taking on an outstanding Ohio State team, but the responsible thing for us to do is pause football activities, given the number of positive cases currently in our program.”
The No. 3 OSU was slated to play at UMD on Nov. 14.
OSU head football coach Ryan Day said, “The health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes is our main concern. Obviously, we are disappointed at not being able to compete this week, but I am incredibly proud of our team and the way they have handled themselves throughout this entire pandemic.
“We wish Maryland, their student-athletes and programs well as they battle through this issue.”
“The health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes is our main concern. We wish Maryland, their student-athletes and programs well as they battle through this issue.” -Ryan Day#GoBuckeyes
https://t.co/Y2Z6w5EZBp— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) November 11, 2020
The Big Ten Conference requires “student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing. Test results must be completed and recorded prior to each practice or game. Student-athletes who test positive for the coronavirus through point of contact (POC) daily testing would require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the result of the POC test.”
Maryland says that between Sept. 30 and Nov. 10, out of 5,333 tests given to student athletes, 120 tested positive for COVID.
This article appears in The Gift Guide.