The University of Maryland is pausing all football team-related activities due to a number of cases of COVID-19 within the Terrapin’s program, the school announced Wednesday afternoon.
Their game against Ohio State, scheduled for Nov. 14, has been canceled and will not be rescheduled.
In the last seven days, eight football players on the team have tested positive for the virus.
The decision to pause the program was made by Director of Athletics Damon Evans and school President Darryll Pines after they consulted with university health officials and the Big Ten Conference.
“There is nothing more important than the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” Evans said. “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.”
Head coach Michael Locksley said he was disappointed to see the game against Ohio canceled, but that he felt the university was making the right decision.
“It was an opportunity that our team was preparing for and excited about,” Locksley said of the game against Ohio State. “However, we have and always will keep our players’, coaches’ and staff’s 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.”
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