Updated with quotes at 4 a.m.

Bloomington, Ind. -- Zach Boren was ready to play linebacker two years ago.

When the Ohio State linebacking corps was getting run over by Wisconsin in 2010, the fullback ran to linebackers coach Luke Fickell and told him he was ready to go in.

On Saturday, the Buckeyes finally took Boren up on the offer. And he led Ohio State with eight tackles in a 52-49 win over Indiana.

“I'll do whatever it takes for this team to win,” Boren said.

With senior Etienne Sabino out for at least three weeks with a broken leg, the Buckeyes called not on a freshman to replace him, but a fellow senior who's been on the other side of the ball since he arrived on campus.

That led to what Boren called a long 72 hours of staying after practice to learn all the aspects of the defense with Fickell. A former standout high school linebacker at Pickerington Central, Boren knows the position, but after four years of offense in Columbus, he didn't know how the Buckeyes do things on that side of the ball. But Ohio State really had no choice. The move was desperate, flattering, crazy and completely sensible all at once.

Meyer said he asked Boren to make the move at Tuesday's practice, when Sabino was joined on the sideline by fellow injured linebackers Ryan Shazier, Camren Williams and Josh Perry. They were running out of bodies and Meyer wanted some veteran leadership in the unit.

"He jumped right at it and he really changed practice on Tuesday," Meyer said. "It's a very unselfish move by him."

At it wasn't a one-game thing. The move should stick at least until Sabino returns to action.

"I would think he might stay over there for a while," Meyer said.

I talked with Boren about playing linebacker last November, when it seemed like a more wide-open offense -- with Braxton Miller at quarterback -- was reducing his role in the offense. That's been amplified this season in Meyer's offense. Boren does his primary job at fullback, leading a running back through a hole, as well as anyone on the team handles the duties of their positions.

In Ohio State's old offense, Boren was a linebacker playing fullback. If he can't do that as often, then make him a linebacker playing linebacker.

And if he's not on the field as much on offense, it makes it that much easier to play on both sides of the ball.

Ohio State Survives Indiana, 52-49 11 Gallery: Ohio State Survives Indiana, 52-49

"I feel like, mentally, I could definitely handle it. Physically, I think I can handle it as well," Boren told me 11 months ago. He was playing about 60 snaps a week on offense then, and he thought he could handle as many as 80 total snaps.

Back then, Mike Vrabel, who coached the linebackers last season, told him he'd have to get down to 240 pounds to play linebacker. Boren was at 256. Now, he's 245.

And he should be able to do both. But when the Buckeyes had a fourth-and-1 run in the first half, Boren stayed out of the game. He wasn't a two-way player, and that is a shame. It seems he could handle both jobs.

He was just a linebacker, and a part-time one at that. He shared his spot with senior Storm Klein, at least until Klein went out of the game in the second half.

Even with the eight tackles, this wasn't Boren's kind of game. It seems as if Sabino should be back for the game against Wisconsin, after a bye week, on Nov. 17. If not, Boren could help the Buckeyes a lot then, plugging holes and trying to tackle Montee Ball. Before then, he'll be chasing teams that spread the field, which isn't what he, or the OSU defense as a whole, does best. Boren missed at least one play in space Saturday that made him mad.

Even given that, he may be the best option the Buckeyes have. Boren can play the game. The Buckeyes are still figuring out what exactly is the best way to use him. Here's hoping it involves both sides of the ball.

Injuries pile up: Fifth-year senior Sabino is out for at least three weeks after breaking a bone in his leg against Nebraska. Fifth-year senior defensive end Nathan Williams didn't make the trip to Indiana due to a concussion he suffered last week that kept him out the entire week of practice. That was two defensive starters the Buckeyes were down coming into Saturday night.

Then junior safety Christian Bryant went down in the first half with a bruised lower leg and was replaced by Zach Domicone. And after a big hit while breaking up a pass in the second quarter, fifth-year senior cornerback Travis Howard went to the sideline with a stinger. He dealt with shoulder problems earlier in the season as well.

So while Indiana was trying to get back into the game, the Buckeyes were looking for bodies.

Freshman Noah Spence took most of the snaps replacing Williams as the Leo rush end in the Buckeyes' defense, and he looked good on several tackles. But Ohio State worries about their freshmen defensive linemen against the run.

Domicone, a fifth-year senior, replaced Bryant, but he's battled knee injuries his entire career and has contributed primarily on special teams thus far. Sophomore Doran Grant replaced Howard, and he played well stepping in for Bradley Roby for a game earlier in the season. But Howard had just blocked a punt for a touchdown, providing a reminder that he can still make big plays.

Bryant was back to start the third quarter, and Howard came back in after Indiana hit a 39-yard pass against Grant and then he was called for pass interference.

But it's that time of the season in which injuries start to mount. We've talked a lot about the Buckeyes' lack of depth at several positions. Roby, starting safety C.J. Barnett and projected starting lineman Michael Bennett already missed games this year with injuries, and defensive lineman John Simon played through a shoulder injury earlier in the year that limited his effectiveness and probably should have sent him to the bench.

Every team deals with health issues. But at some point, the injuries for the Buckeyes may prove too much.