Jeff Ermann of Inside MD Sports broke the news on Saturday that Terrapins quarterback Taulia Tagovailioa, linebacker Chance Campbell, “plus another starter and a coordinator” tested positive for COVID-19 and would have to miss Maryland’s game against Rutgers.
“Major blow for Maryland now and the rest of the season,” Ermann wrote in his tweet.
In his story, Ermann expanded on why: “Their absence is a big blow to a Terps team looking to gain a winning record, improve its bowl standing and continue to show progress in its rebuilding process.”
Maryland entered Saturday with a 2-2 record, third in the Big Ten East behind Ohio State and Indiana. The Terrapins have the same number of wins as the teams below them — Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Rutgers — but stand ahead of them because they didn’t lose all the other games they had canceled due to coronavirus.
They’re looking to gain a winning record? They beat Minnesota by a point in overtime and the worst Penn State team in years, and the key to a winning record after getting their doors blown off by Northwestern and losing to Indiana would be… beating Rutgers. Who gives a shit?
They’re looking to improve their bowl standing? A bunch of bowl games already have been canceled, more certainly will be canceled, and Maryland would be looking at — at best — a date with a team like North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Who gives a shit?
They’re looking to show progress in their rebuilding process? What does that even mean? Who gives a shit?
Why is Maryland-Rutgers even happening? With that many fresh positive tests among the Terrapins, it’s not unreasonable to believe that there are more people in the program who have contracted the virus but haven’t accumulated enough of a viral load to test positive yet. They should go out and spend an afternoon in close quarters with each other and Rutgers players, risking their health? Even in the best of times, Maryland-Rutgers is a giant bowl of “who gives a shit?”
Now? It’s completely irrelevant.
Just hope that Tagovailioa, Campbell, and everyone else with the virus can have a speedy recovery, cancel the game, forget about Maryland’s already-shortened season, and move on to next year, when hopefully the Terrapins’ quest for relevance in the Big Ten and national college football won’t be a public health hazard.
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