I also heard this was possibly in the mix, but don't know if there's any truth to the matter or if it's just a rumor.

The Dispatch is never kind to OU, they always seek to report the most negative stories coming out of Athens.

Count me in as one who's glad this game wasn't played. For whose benefit would it have been played? Certainly not Ohio's. The game would've been played solely to benefit OSU. Tough beans for OSU. Like I heard a sports commentator say earlier in the week, and I totally agree, if OSU really wants to play a meaningful game, then play Texas A&M, who's free Saturday too. If BYU can play and schedule a game on the fly, so can OSU.

Ohio doesn't need to be fodder for OSU.

The article states that O$U backed out. This whole thing was probably due more to trying to please the TV networks than any real effort to get another game in for the players. Seven of the cancelled games this weekend would've been on either BTN, ESPN or Fox. Six of the teams are Top 25. That's a big bite into the networks' ratings.

Having a Saturday game scheduled on Thursday doesn't do a team any good. No time to prep a game plan and even less for players to focus on the opposition. That increases the risk of injury. And why expose players and coaches to another covid threat. The money just wouldn't be worth it. Let everybody wrap up exam week and head home for winter break.

Billy, just for you and perhaps more importantly your friend, I've enacted a new rule, the Lembright Rule; "whenever there is a pandemic it is okay to turn down a game". Hope that helps your friend!

One way to shut up those types is to have accepted Ohio State's offer and played them. Demand serious $$$ for showing up. Then after the game call it a season, send the players home for the holidays, and move on. As for the other team we passed on playing, I truly have no clue as to why we would have walked away from that, but as the saying goes, that train has left the station so send the players home and move on to next year. Sad, but it is what it is.