Urban Meyer knows that when he marches into the Horseshoe on Saturday about 100,000 Ohio State fans will rise to their collective feet and celebrate his return from a three-game suspension for failing to properly handle troubled former assistant coach Zach Smith.

The Buckeyes are 3-0. No one in the country, other than perhaps Alabama, looks as strong. The head coach is back. Let the good times (continue to) roll.

The quicker Meyer can give those inside what he calls “Buckeye Nation” a reason to excuse or, at least, move on from Smith’s “toxic” and allegedly abusive relationship with wife Courtney, then the better off he is.

So there was Meyer on Sunday morning, sitting inside his house, sitting across from ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, and he was, without directly saying so, saying enough to convey a very simple message to those inclined to follow it: Neither he nor his wife, Shelley, believes Courtney Smith’s allegations of domestic abuse.

Whether it was Urban’s job to make that determination, whether Urban covered up via omission for Zach, whether his own university believes him but contorted itself to excuse it is not the point that Urban was trying to convey to the fans. Giving cover to the coming cheers was.

ESPN released the first part of the interview Sunday so there is more to come – hopefully much more that drills down on the precise details of what Meyer knew, said or clammed up about in this case.

Sunday though was for expressing doubt in Courtney without ever quite expressing doubt in Courtney.

What did he know about the 2009 arrest of Zach for abuse against Courtney when Zach worked for Urban at the University of Florida, he was asked?

“I knew in 2009 that there was an incident and I was led to believe by both parties that it was not domestic violence,” Meyer said.

Both parties? The Ohio State report disagreed with that story. Meyer told investigators that he met with both Zach and Courtney and that “the arrest of Zach Smith had been based on incorrect information provided to authorities by Courtney Smith and that, in fact, Zach Smith had not hit or otherwise been violent towards Mrs. Smith.”

Ohio State found that inaccurate, particularly after both Zach and Courtney said that meeting never occurred and only Zach met with Urban.

“We find it more likely that only Zach Smith met with Coach Meyer in 2009, and that Courtney Smith likely did not recant her allegations of abuse at that time,” the Ohio State report reads.

No matter. Here was Meyer essentially repeating it.

After all, how many people actually remember what was written deep in an administrative report that the university purposely released late at night and after the news conference to announce Meyer’s suspension?

The school wanted as few people to read that as possible. It worked.

“Zach Smith was arrested by the Gainesville Police Department after he ‘allegedly picked up his wife and allegedly threw her against a wall,’” Rinaldi said. “This is in the investigation’s findings. What did you do about the arrest?”

“Both parties came to see me,” Urban said. “I asked about it and I was told it was not domestic violence. She was very upset with him for drinking.”

Rinaldi asked, who told you that?

“I believe both of them did,” Urban said.

Again, not even Ohio State believes that story.

“The report also says about 2009, you and your wife, Shelley, didn’t believe Courtney Smith was being entirely truthful when she called 911 to have Zach arrested,” Rinaldi said. “This is what the report says, Urban. What was she being untruthful about in calling 911?”

“I recall being told and believed that this was not domestic violence that she threw him out of the house and that there were no charges,” Urban said. “I was completely reliant on information from law enforcement that there were no charges.”

So was he completely reliant on law enforcement, or his own interaction with Zach and Courtney, which Ohio State concluded didn’t likely occur, either at all or the way Urban claims it did?

Who knows? If there is no crime, if Courtney Smith is just making it all up, then there is no cover-up. Maybe no one outside Ohio believes that, but for Meyer, it’s circle-the-wagons time here.

The germane point, of course, is that it wasn’t Urban’s job to make the determination about who was telling the truth. He has the right to not believe Courtney Smith. He may be correct. That doesn’t matter.

Trusting his judgment at the time is folly. Back then, when Urban was at Florida, he had 31 players arrested and had to temporarily retire due to stress-induced heart and health issues. He admits to having his work/life priorities so out of whack that he rarely spoke to his own children. That arrest number doesn’t even count Aaron Hernandez, whom police sought to twice question about separate violent incidents (an assault and a double shooting) but was never actually detained.

It is fair to conclude Urban was an absolutely horrible judge of character at the time.

Here’s an even more important issue. In 2015, Zach was again accused of domestic violence and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith found out about it. When Gene Smith brought the issue up to Urban Meyer and they contemplated what to do, Urban never told Gene Smith about Zach’s 2009 arrest.

That alone is, at best, a lie by omission and at worst, a straight cover-up. Saying, “Hey, Gene, you might want to know this isn’t the first time,” could have changed everything. If Gene Smith had been provided full information about the issue he would have known that this was a potential pattern of domestic abuse. Then Zach may have been fired in 2015 and none of this is happening. It stands to reason Urban knew if he spoke up that Zach would be fired, too.

It’s fair to wonder if that is why Urban never told.

On Sunday, Urban even stuck with the story that his wife, Shelley, did not tell him about text messages and pictures of injuries that Shelley and Courtney shared in 2015. In those messages, Shelley expressed her concern for Courtney, told Courtney she would pray for her, encouraged Courtney to get a restraining order against Zach and declared about Zach that “he scares me.”

All of that, but she didn’t bother telling her husband about it one time in the ensuing three years? Not once?

Even Ohio State found that implausible. Just about every married couple in America did, too.

Urban deftly noted though that while he couldn’t reveal it, there was a mystery reason why Shelley “did not share those texts with me.”

Oh, of course there is.

“She shared with me her reasoning,” Urban said. “I don’t want to speak on her behalf.”

Well, he’ll speak a little on her behalf.

“We talked about that and she wanted to be as compassionate as possible and once again, she has reasoning for why she didn’t react,” Urban said. “And I am not here to speak for Shelley, but she had her reasoning and if her reasoning was what it was that is why she didn’t alert me or go anywhere else with it.”

Everyone gets to fill in the blanks on that.

So, if you are prone to supporting Urban Meyer then on Sunday you heard loud and clear what Urban Meyer wants you to know about the situation.

And on Saturday, Urban Meyer will likely hear that roaring applause right back. Then Ohio State will get back to playing football.

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