PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Mike Weber could've been like Chris Worley on Saturday night, dressed for Ohio State's game against Rutgers, but knowing he wasn't getting into the game. Grab a headset and a clipboard.

Weber could've traveled to Jersey with only street clothes, a hoodie and sweatpants for a prime time game like Rutgers receiver Janarion Grant -- a top playmaker relegated to the role of spectator on Saturday. Or he could've been like Dre'Mont Jones, who badly cut his leg this week and didn't even make the trip with his Buckeyes teammates. Rest and recovery back in Columbus were more important.

But Weber didn't want to be any of those guys.

He wanted to be who he was last year, who freshman running back J.K. Dobbins has been through five weeks, and the kind of player Weber flashed at times on Saturday night. Mostly, he wanted to play.

So when faced with the decision before training camp to either have surgery for a partially-torn hamstring and miss the 2017 season, or wait it out, Weber chose to wait it out, hoping the time would come when he'd be healthy enough to be a factor. That happened this week.

"I never really thought about surgery," Weber said after a season-high 10 carries for 44 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-0 blowout of Rutgers.

"It was brought up a few times, but my mind was never set on surgery. I wanted to come back and help my team play this year ... Coach said it's possible to come back this year, and it's gonna be a long wait. That's what I wanted to do. I didn't want to sit out this year."

The surgery piece was a bit of bombshell from Urban Meyer.

Prior to Saturday we knew that Weber was dealing with a hamstring issue that popped up before camp and lingered into the season. That's why Weber missed games against Indiana and UNLV, and was used sparingly against Oklahoma and Army.

We knew that flare ups were possible moving forward, because hamstrings are tricky.

We didn't know that surgery was an option, and that -- according to Weber -- the injury was nearly a Grade 3 complete tear of the hamstring.

"Now that we know he's cleared, and he's finally cleared, pain free -- for a while there he had to fight through the scar tissue," Meyer said. "It was a significant tear right before training camp. They almost had to do surgery on him. We were dealing with maybe a year lost right before training camp. He came back fast, then had another little set back, but now it's go."

Weber's reasons for skipping the surgery, which wasn't necessary but clearly a real option, weren't made totally clear. He simply said Saturday that he wanted to play this year.

He didn't say this, but there's a harsh reality involved here too when it comes to Ohio State. Meyer calls it "life in the big city." Coaches never want players to lose jobs because of injury, but Weber knew the deal. There was a stud freshman running back on this team, and more coming next year. The window to still be a featured back in this offense is closing, and he he didn't want to miss it.

There's also the part of Weber being draft-eligible this spring, and even if you don't think he's an NFL running back at the moment, we've seen Buckeyes make the jump early in recent years because there's usually someone behind you on the roster who's better. That's what happens when recruiting is rolling.

So in a sense Weber rolled the dice, and he's now after five weeks finally in a place where Meyer feels comfortable using him to full effect in the offense.

"It felt good," Weber said. "It's been a long process of waiting, some setbacks. Went through a lot of things, but it felt good to get back out there with my team."

Weber said he felt close to 100 percent on Saturday, and that if asked he could've shouldered more of a load than his 10 carries.

That's great news for Ohio State, because in an ideal world you shouldn't have to rely on a true freshman, no matter how talented, to handle the bulk of the rushing load. And now we can truly tackle the million-dollar question: How will Meyer use his full complement of running backs?

Weber and Dobbins can coexist. Their skill sets are different enough. Weber flashed some real potential as a goal-line back on Saturday, punching in three touchdowns vulture-style, scoring about every three times he touched the ball. Dobbins is more of a gamebreaker with great speed, vision and elusiveness.

"There's no doubt we want to get both those cats involved," Meyer said.

On Saturday night that meant 10 carries for Weber, but only six for Dobbins. The pair combined for 97 rushing yards. But that's the wrong kind of sample size, because Rutgers stinks.

The question remains how the balance will play out in a real game. Though this feels like a real weapon for Ohio State, one that could potentially be stronger than the rushing tandem of Weber and Curtis Samuel last year.

For Meyer, this is fun. For fans, it should be interesting and exciting.

It's a conversation we've been waiting to have in earnest for a month. Nobody realized before Saturday how close we came to not having it at all.