With spring football slated to start in the middle of the month the Ohio State Department of Athletics announced a “pause” for all team-related football activities for one week and will close the Woody Hayes Athletics Center along with the administrative offices due to an increase in positive tests for the coronavirus.

This move is the result of a round of PCR testing on Monday.

The suspension of team-related activities was a joint decision made by both Director of Athletics Gene Smith along with head team physician Dr. Jim Borchers.

“Our decision on the welfare of our student-athletes, staff members and those coming to our campus, and our determination as to when we will reopen and resume activities continue to be guided by our medical staff,” Smith said in a press release on Tuesday morning.

“We have been successful in safely hosting nearly 100 athletic events on campus this year with limited disruptions, but this pandemic is not over. We will continue to stress the safety measures of wearing masks, consistent and thorough hand washing and physical distancing and we will remain vigilant in those areas.”

The Buckeyes had been taking part in winter workouts including “mat drills” but now attention is turned to the date of March 19th, the day that Ohio State had scheduled to start its spring practice workouts with a planned Spring Game to take place on April 17th.

We will continue to follow this breaking news here at BuckeyeGrove.com.