A hush over Buckeyes football

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A week before Ohio State’s season opener, few in Columbus have been able to focus on football. Not many are talking about the new starting quarterback or how to best use the two elite running backs.

Instead, the discussion has been about domestic violence, misplaced loyalty, lying and how much a coach at a major university is expected to know about the personal lives of his assistants.

It has been a preseason unlike any other in Columbus.

On Aug. 1, two days before practice opened, coach Urban Meyer was put on paid leave and the university began an investigation into his handling of domestic violence allegations against receivers coach Zach Smith against his now ex-wife.

That situation came to a head Wednesday night. After nearly 11 hours of discussions, the board of trustees handed down a three-game suspension for Meyer. A two-week investigation concluded the superstar coach needed to be punished for tolerating Smith’s bad behavior for so long. Smith is the grandson of former Ohio State coach and Meyer mentor Earle Bruce.

After Wednesday’s news conference, Meyer was criticized for his response to a question about Zach Smith’s ex-wife, Courtney. On Friday, Meyer issued a statement apologizing directly to her.

Meyer, who is 73-8 in six seasons at Ohio State, will be off the sideline until the Sept.22 game against Tulane. The 54-year-old coach, however, will be allowed to run practice after Sept. 1.

The national debate about offfield issues is not likely to wane.

“The fact that Urban is not there still becomes a major part of it, so I don’t know that Ohio State gets to directly say, ‘Hey, the suspension has been handed down, there was a press conference, now let’s talk solely about football.’ I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Austin Ward, who has covered Ohio State football since 2012 and writes for the website Lettermen Row. “He’s such a commanding presence, and now this thing could bleed out into the first couple weeks of the season where it still becomes a topic that you just cannot ignore.”

While Meyer does his time, 39-year-old co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ryan Day, a second-year Ohio State assistant who has never before been a head coach, is running the show.