Two weeks later, Day and an undisclosed number of players tested positive, the team’s first outbreak of the season. It was safer for the Buckeye players, Smith told me — and safer for the Illinois players. “You’ve got to look at the big picture.”The following Saturday, the Buckeyes walloped Michigan State. Without playing Michigan, Ohio State wouldn’t have enough games to qualify for the conference final. Except later that evening, Indiana also reported a surge in positive tests and announced that it was ending all football activity for the week.

Source: New York Times December 30, 2020 10:01 UTC