The Ohio State Buckeyes made their point as expected, despite missing most of their offensive line and their head coach. Justin Fields confirmed he's magnificent, no matter who's blocking or coaching, and the scarlet machine steamed on.
Ohio State's 52-12 thrashing of Michigan State Saturday said more about the Buckeyes than the Spartans, although Mel Tucker might disagree. Michigan State's first-year coach did a low, angry seethe afterward, saying he was going to be "sick" when he watched the film.
But sorry, this isn't about the Spartans (2-4) being completely overmatched. This is about Ohio State, which means it's also about Michigan, which means a lot of people probably will say a lot of reckless stuff leading up to The Game, scheduled for Saturday in Columbus.
Yes, there's a decent chance the game will be canceled, as Michigan is dealing with its first significant COVID-19 outbreak and called off its game against Maryland. No one knows with certainty if Michigan-OSU will be scratched because we don't know which players are affected and to what extent. It's doubtful even fledgling epidemiologist Kirk Herbstreit, who apologized for insinuating Michigan would "wave the white flag," knows. The latest testing of UM athletes (not just football) produced 14 positives, an uptick. We should know more by Monday, the first day the Wolverines can possibly practice.
The rivalry rhetoric already has begun because Michigan is 2-4 and a scattered mess, while Ohio State is 5-0 and a dominant playoff candidate. Hey, the Spartans took their rightful beating, why won't the Wolverines?!
Thanks to some early politicking from Herbstreit and OSU AD Gene Smith, the Wolverines appear to be in a tough spot. Gut it out and likely get destroyed, or shut it down and risk getting publicly ripped.
The truth is, that's a dangerous oversimplification. This is not the season to be playing the passive-aggressive "who's got courage?" game. Are the Wolverines disrespecting the rivalry if they deem it unsafe to play? Or, are they disrespecting the rivalry if they play with COVID-19 issues that could put others at risk? Basically, is it wrong to play with COVID-19, and wrong not to?
