Chris "Beanie" Wells, a sophomore running back who headlines an inexperienced Ohio State offense, was surrounded by reporters who were asking the same question in various guises: Are you ready to be the plow horse of a more conservative offense?

Wells is, but he didn't bite. Here is a typical answer, this one to the question of how many times he expects to carry the ball a game this season: "I'm not sure. It doesn't really matter to me, as long as I'm helping the team."

This selfless sentiment is much appreciated, but it doesn't seem likely for a guy who was the top-rated high school running back in the nation two years ago. A running back probably hasn't been born who wouldn't like to carry the ball 30 times a game, and with more questions asked, it becomes clear he is no different.

C'mon, Chris. Wouldn't you be happy with that many carries?

"Of course I'd be happy with it," he said.

He grinned, and for just a second I thought I saw one of coach Woody Hayes' old plow horses. Then the vision faded and we were back in 2007.

"I'd love to carry the ball that much," he said. "But as long as I'm helping the team and the team is progressing and winning games, I'm satisfied."

The most times he carried the ball in a game in high school?

"I think I carried it maybe 38 times my last high school game," he said, smiling.

Was that OK with you?

"Yeah, I loved it," he said. "I loved it.

So beneath that sheath of humility, a human being still resides. Maybe he just realizes that it would seem a little presumptuous of him to start talking about 30 carries a game when the most he had in one game last season was 15. For all his talent, he has yet to log his first 100-yard game.

But wouldn't he agree that the Ohio State running game might enlarge a bit this season given the fact that Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith and NFL first-round receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez are gone?

"I wouldn't agree," he said, smiling again. "I don't think coach (Jim) Tressel likes to keep it simple for anybody."

Point taken. But even if Tressel repeatedly says he covets a balanced offense, it doesn't hurt to add this disclaimer:

If the inexperienced quarterbacks -- Todd Boeckman, Rob Schoenhoft, Antonio Henton and Joe Bauserman -- don't produce as well as he thinks they can, Tressel does have a little Woody Hayes in him. He wouldn't turn back the clock to the three yards and a cloud of dust days when Champ Henson once got 44 carries and John Brockington once got 42, but remember, Eddie George and Raymont Harris each hit 39 during games in the 1990s.

Tressel isn't the prototypical wild and crazy guy; he's a guy who will do whatever he thinks he has to do to win.

"I would like to think we'll be able to throw well," Tressel said. "I don't know what we were last year, 55 to 45 (percent) maybe, I'm not even sure. I'd like to be somewhere in the 50 percents running, 55 to 59, and the balance throwing the ball. I mean, it won't be where we're all of a sudden 80 percent running. But I don't mind handing it to good backs."

Wells wants to be a good back in the worst way. This summer, after he finished working out for three hours with his group, he worked out with a freshman group for another three. That doesn't seem like the regimen of a guy who will be happy carrying the ball 15 times a game.

"We have a lot of guys in this world who have a lot of talent," Tressel said. "But when you have guys with the kind of ability he has who have demonstrated the work ethic he has, he has a chance to do some great things."

Just guessing, but Tressel is probably not talking about carrying it 10 or 15 times against Akron and Youngstown State.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

bhunter@dispatch.com