The Buckeyes are ready for their season opener

Now that it’s time to play the games, will the absence of suspended coach Urban Meyer be a rallying point for Buckeyes players? Or will Oregon State catch them out of sorts?

Scandal swirled around the Ohio State program for the entirely of preseason training camp. Now that it’s time to play the games, will the absence of suspended coach Urban Meyer be a rallying point for Buckeyes players? Or will Oregon State catch them out of sorts?

Ohio State might miss a step or two early, but don’t expect too much drama in the season opener Saturday. The No. 5 Buckeyes should have their way with the beleaguered Beavers, who are 38-point underdogs and coming to Ohio Stadium to play in front of an ampedup, football-starved crowd.

Ohio State players say Meyer’s issues haven’t been an overwhelming distraction, but given the twists and turns of the saga and accompanying social-media noise, there are some roiled feelings perhaps used as motivation for players who weren’t directly involved.

“I think we are very angry,” senior receiver Parris Campbell said this week. “Just with all of the adversity that we have gone through, everything that has happened in the past, you know, us not having our head coach, us being a man down, I think there are a lot of variables going into it.”

Meyer was put on paid leave on Aug. 1 , two days before preseason camp opened. After a two-week investigation, the superstar coach was suspended for the first three games for his handling of now-fired assistant coach Zach Smith, who was accused of domestic violence and other problematic behavior. Athletic director Gene Smith was suspended without pay for two weeks for his role.

Meyer took to Twitter on Friday to again justify his stance, saying he didn’t lie to reporters and wasn’t suspended because he knew about or condoned his assistant coach’s alleged domestic abuse — claims that don’t fully square with details laid out in the investigation’s report. Quoting passages from the report, Meyer said his fault “was in not taking action sooner against a troubled employee about his work-related issues.”