Maryland vs. Ohio State Football Game Canceled Due to COVID-19 Outbreak

Maryland Director of Athletics Damon Evans and University of Maryland President Darryll Pines announced plans to pause its football program's activities and canceled Saturday night's game against No. 3 Ohio State.

The game was canceled due to an elevated number of COVID-19 cases within Maryland's program. The game will not be rescheduled, according to the university.

Pines made his decision based on a recommendation from university health officials, and in consultation with the Big Ten. Maryland released a statement Wednesday regarding the canceled game.

"There is nothing more important than the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff," Evans said in the release. "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."

Maryland head coach Michael Locksley said while he was disappointed, the safety of the program comes first.

"It was an opportunity that our team was preparing for and excited about," Locksley said in a release. "However, we have and always will keep our players, coaches and staffs safety at the forefront of our decision making process. We'll continue to operate as much as we can virtually as we monitor the situation in hopes of returning to play when it's deemed safe."

Over the past seven days, eight football players tested positive for COVID-19. Between Sept. 30 and Nov. 10, a total of 1,510 on-campus PCR screening tests at Maryland have been conducted for athletes across all sports. A total of 10 athletes have tested positive. 

Maryland (2–1) sits third in the Big 10 East behind undefeated Indiana (3–0) and Ohio State (3–0). The Terrapins are coming off a 35–19 victory over Penn State. The Buckeyes defeated Rutgers 49–27 on Saturday. 

Maryland will return to action on Nov. 21 when the Terrapins host Michigan State. Ohio State will play its next game vs. Indiana.