COLUMBUS, Ohio — That 65-yard touchdown run by Braxton Miller on Saturday, the one with the little stutterstep? Good decision to not pitch it on that one.

“Yeah,” Ohio State’s freshman quarterback said with a laugh on Wednesday. “The [Miami of Ohio defender] got outside of me, so I gave it a little flip and took it up the field.”

There were a few other times in the Buckeyes’ season-opening 56-10 victory when Miller maybe needed to let the ball go on pitches. He ran for a school-record 161 yards for a quarterback, but OSU coach Urban Meyer said 17 carries was too many for Miller.

The quarterback wound up cramping twice. And it is a long season.

Miller said Wednesday he wasn’t sore at all and his body felt fine.

Yet, he won’t expect another 17 carries against Central Florida on Saturday.

“It should be less,” Miller said. “I think it’ll be better for my body if I ran a bit less.”

In the opener, the fact Miller cramped twice in the third quarter wasn’t a big deal. The Buckeyes were up by 25, and backup Kenny Guiton got in some work. But Meyer said Ohio State has a plan to make sure the cramping doesn’t happen again, which includes making sure Miller gets extra hydration 48 hours before kickoff.

“We addressed it and we have people that that’s their job fulltime,” Meyer said. “I hope he cramps up again — that mean’s he’s got some yards. But we have addressed that.”

Now they can address Miller’s full role in the run game.

His 17 carries came on eight read plays where he chose to keep the ball instead of handing off inside or pitching the ball on the edge; five scrambles on pass plays that included a fumble that he recovered himself and a sack called on an intentional grounding call that would have been a fumble if not blown dead as Miller slung the ball backward while going down; and four plays that were called runs for Miller.

Receiver Philly Brown motioned into the backfield on multiple occasions and was there as an option, but he never got the ball.

“One of the plays I was supposed to pitch it, and the guy tricked me,” Miller said, “so I kept it to make a better play.”

Meyer said Miller is pretty good on the mechanics of making those pitches.

“He’s better toward the right,” Meyer said. “On his left, he brings it up from down here a little bit. He’s got to bring it [higher], but very good. He’s kind of a natural guy at that. He’s an athlete.”

And he should get more comfortable in making decisions.

“He pulled it a couple of times when he should have gave it,” Meyer said. “But that’s one thing about this style of offense, every play the quarterback has to make a read. Some offenses you take the snap, hand the ball to the tailback and hope things work out well. We don’t have too many of those plays. He has to make a read on every play, so he’s going to make a few mistakes.”

The two biggest were losing control of the ball once and almost losing it a second time.

“He’s got a little ball security issue, not near as bad as I saw a year ago,” Meyer said, noting Miller doesn’t tuck the ball away enough when he runs. “But we worked hard to keep his hands on the ball and lock his elbows. Those are concerns of a young quarterback. Old quarterbacks do the same thing, especially competitors.”

When it comes to competing, Miller certainly did that. So the plan is more pitches and fewer cramps — and he should probably keep that 65-yard run in the playbook.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dlesmerises@plaind.com, 216-999-4479