The RedHawks announced on Sunday that their game against the Bobcats scheduled for Tuesday at Miami’s Yager Stadium had been cancelled due to Ohio developing roster issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Ohio University at Miami University football game on Tuesday, November 17th has been canceled due to roster issues with the Ohio football team related to positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing,” was the Mid-American Conference statement. “The game has been declared a no contest.”
“I got a call yesterday afternoon around 2:45,” seventh-year Miami coach Chuck Martin said on Monday. “It hit me like a ton of bricks.”
Miami (1-1), which opened the season with a win over Ball State before losing at Buffalo on Nov. 10, will be off for at least 17 days before traveling to Akron to play the 0-2 Zips on Nov. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m..
Martin’s understanding of Ohio’s situation was one particular position group was hit particularly hard by the virus and would have left the Bobcats short-handed.
“While we are disappointed for our student-athletes, coaches, fans and alumni that the ‘Battle of the Bricks’ will not be contested this week, we knew schedule disruptions could be a possibility this season,” Ohio Athletics Director Julie Cromer said in a statement. “The health and safety of our student-athletes remain our number one priority.”
“The ‘Battle of the Bricks’ is a rivalry game we look forward to every season,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said in a statement. “The decision to cancel the game was based on roster issues due to test results and contact tracing. Out of caution, we’ve made the proactive decision to limit our team activities for now. We look forward to getting back on the field soon and competing.”
If there was talk about postponing the game instead of cancelling it, leaving both teams with five-game seasons, Martin wasn’t privy to it.
“Not to my knowledge,” he said. “We had an open date this weekend, but they didn’t feel like they could get healthy by then. If there was a discussion, it wasn’t with me.”
The RedHawks and Bobcats went into the week tied for third in the MAC East Division behind co-leaders Buffalo and Kent State. Miami still had a chance to successfully defend its 2019 division and conference championships, but getting there will be complicated.
“Basically, the way the league has set it up, it’s the team with the best record – the highest winning percentage,” Martin said. "We probably have four weeks left in the season – three for us. It could hurt you. It could help you. You never know. It’s 2020. There’s nothing you can do about it. We knew that going in. There could be more cancellations. Hopefully, we can catch up.
“You really don’t know how to deal with it. That’s the toughest thing about 2020. You have to stay focused on the task at hand. We’ve got to recalibrate. We’ve got to refocus. We’ve got to block out the noise.”
The MAC originally had planned to postpone fall sports before announcing limited schedules with attendance restrictions. Football teams were allowed six-game schedules, one against an inter-division opponent and the remaining five against division rivals. Miami is scheduled to play Kent State in Oxford on Dec, 5 and at Bowling Green on Dec, 12. The MAC Championship Game is scheduled for December 19 at Ford Field in Detroit.
The silver lining of cancelling the Ohio game is Miami gets a chance to get key players such as sophomore quarterback Brett Gabbert and fifth-year senior offensive left tackle Tommy Doyle healthy. Gabbert left the Ball State game early in the second quarter and didn’t play at Buffalo. Doyle was knocked out of the Bulls game.
“There’s always a positive,” Martin said. “Kids now have a good chance to get to Akron healthy and to get their minds right.”
**** In just his second career contest, freshman Dom Dzioban has been named Mid-American Conference East Division Special Teams Player of the Week.
Dzioban averaged 44.3 yards per punt on six attempts in last week’s contest at Buffalo and downed four of those punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
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