5 Things We Learned After Ohio State Beat Indiana

After a scary 34-20 win over Indiana on Saturday, the media flooded Ohio State head coach Luke Fickell about the impact of the Buckeyes' run game. With over 300 yards of rushing offense, Ohio State escaped an upset.

Coach Fickell understands where the strengths of the Buckeyes' offense lies, and he recognizes that the team must learn how to balance in order to be effective the rest of the season.

Click "Begin Slideshow" to read five things we learned after the game. 

5. Carlos Hyde Can Still Make an Impact

After staying quiet the last couple of weeks, sophomore Carlos Hyde bounced back with a 100 yard rushing game.

Coach Fickell was proud of Hyde's performance:

"There's a guy that kind of had a really a hundred yard rushing game against Nebraska and hadn't seen the field a whole lot since then. He's kept his head up, continued to fight, battle, tried to find some other ways he could contribute, when Boom and Jordan were getting the majority of the carries.

And just kept in his ears, saying, hey, your opportunity is going to come; you have to make sure you take the best of it. And give him credit for what he's done the last few weeks until his opportunity arose.

We keep harping on our guys all the time, you just never know when your opportunities are going to arise."

4. Braxton Miller Can Run... Really, Really Far.

The Indiana defense saw one thing during the entire game: the back of Braxton Miller's jersey. Miller had a terrific rushing game, including a school record 81-yard rushing touchdown.

"You know, I mean, obviously he's a heck of a football player and can run the football very well. He's getting better at everything," Fickell stated at the post game press conference.

"If the guy comes off and makes a great play, a 60, 75 yard run as opposed to doing something out of character; yes, he did heck of a job. I think the guys around him did a heck of a job and did an opportunity to show what he could do."

3. Fickell Never Underestimated the Hoosiers

With Ohio State being 30 point favorites in some polls, Buckeye fans were shocked to watch the Hoosiers stay competitive.

Everyone was surprised...except Coach Fickell. 

He never underestimated Indiana. 

"We expect a lot from our guys. And we'll evaluate every single thing. It doesn't matter what their record is; you gotta give them a lot of credit. They're playing a lot of young guys, probably similar as we are. And they're battling.

If you watch them, that's one thing you'll see as you really study their films. They're going to battle and do those kinds of things. But we're not going to look at we try to eliminate that opponent and what their record is and what they're doing. We've got enough to worry about and focus on ourselves," Fickell said.

2. Fickell Will Admit When He's Wrong

One big issue Buckeye fans have been struggling with is the lack of accountability for the team's mistakes. It seems that the coaching personnel have been passing the blame among Coach Fickell, Jim, Bollman, and athletic director Gene Smith.

So when the Buckeyes' defense let a Hoosier wide receiver catch an easy touchdown, Coach Fickell took responsibility for the play call.

"I'm going to put that one on myself. That's just they get in an unbalanced set. It's not a real good third down and third down and long call that obviously we've got guys that need to be out there and be on them.

But bad call, bad time for us, and kind of turned the guy loose. But we gotta put ourselves into a better situation, put the guys in a better situation."

1. Coach Fickell Tells It Like It Is

When J.B. Shugarts headed over to the sidelines after an injury, the media asked Coach Fickell about Shugart's status.

His response? "I don't know. I'm not the doctor."

Well played, Coach Fickell. Well played.