Snap Counts: 79 Ohio State Players Take The Field in 52-3 Rout of Rutgers

After playing 71 players for at least one play on offense, defense or special teams in its season-opening 77-31 win against Oregon State, Ohio State put even more players on the field in its second game of the season against Rutgers.

In total, 79 players saw game action for the Buckeyes in their 52-3 win over the Scarlet Knights this past Saturday, including 10 players who didn’t see game action against the Beavers – nine of whom play of the offensive side of the ball, and eight of whom saw their first playing time ever as Buckeyes.

The other one of those players, and the most significant of those players, was Jordan Fuller, who returned to the starting lineup at safety after missing the season opener with a hamstring injury, and was on the field for the first 42 defensive snaps of the game.

Other than that, though, the snap distribution in the second game of the season was fairly similar to the season opener – with backups finishing out the game in the latter portion of the second half with the outcome well in hand – although some young players did see significant increases in playing time from week one to week two.

It’s time to look at every player who played on Saturday, and how many snaps each of them played, in this week’s edition of Snap Counts.

Author’s note: All snap counts listed here should be considered unofficial, as Ohio State does not make its official snap counts public. It is not always possible to see all 11 players on the field from TV broadcast angles, particularly on special teams plays, so exact special teams snap counts are not included and offensive and defensive snap counts could potentially differ from those tracked by Ohio State’s coaches.

Quarterbacks

Dwayne Haskins: 48
Tate Martell: 26
Chris Chugunov: 4

Haskins played every series of the first half with the exception of one, when Martell came in for four plays with the first-team offense and threw a touchdown pass. After Haskins and the first-team offense scored a touchdown on their first possession of the second half, Martell finished out the rest of the game with the second-team offense, with the exception of the final series of the game and one play earlier in the fourth quarter, when he was forced to leave the game briefly after taking a big hit.

Chugunov, in his first game appearance as a Buckeye, filled in for Martell on that one play and checked in for the final series, but did not attempt a pass.

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Running Backs

Mike Weber: 26
J.K. Dobbins: 26
Brian Snead: 16
Master Teague: 10

Ohio State’s intent to split carries evenly between their top two running backs worked out perfectly in this game, as Weber – who made his first start since 2016, before Dobbins arrived on campus – and Dobbins were each in the game for exactly half of the plays run by the first-team offense.

Snead and Teague, meanwhile, alternated series with the second-team offense – with Snead getting into the game first – just as the two true freshmen did in the season opener.

Wide Receivers

Austin Mack: 31
Terry McLaurin: 29
Parris Campbell: 26
Binjimen Victor: 25
Johnnie Dixon: 23
K.J. Hill: 19
Chris Olave: 16
C.J. Saunders: 14
Jaylen Harris: 13
Demario McCall: 10
Garyn Prater: 7
Sam Wiglusz: 7
Jaelen Gill: 6
Ellijah Gardiner: 3

The Buckeyes continued to stick with their typical six-man wide receiver rotation in this game, with Mack and Victor at X receiver, McLaurin and Dixon at Z receiver and Campbell and Hill at H-back/slot receiver. Mack, McLaurin and Campbell did start the game, and did see a bit more playing time than their counterparts. Victor played one series with the second-team offense after the rest of the Buckeyes’ first-team offensive players had come out of the game.

Saunders also played four snaps with the first-team offense in Saturday’s game; those four snaps came on the four plays in which the Buckeyes deployed four-wide sets in Saturday’s game, with Saunders checking in as a second slot receiver for each of those four plays.

The Buckeyes played a whopping total of 14 wide receivers in Saturday’s game, but the other seven all played exclusively in the second half with other backups. Gardiner checked in during the third quarter for the first playing time of his Ohio State career, while Wiglusz, Prater and Gill checked in on the Buckeyes’ final two possessions of the game to make their Ohio State debuts.

Tight Ends

Rashod Berry: 27
Luke Farrell: 27
Jeremy Ruckert: 23
Derrick Malone: 2
Mitch Rossi: 2
Tate Duarte: 2

Like the running backs, Ohio State succeeded in splitting playing time exactly between its top two tight ends on Saturday, with Berry – who started Saturday’s game after Farrell started the week before – and Farrell each playing exactly 27 snaps. Like the previous week, Ohio State used some two-tight end sets in Saturday’s game, keeping Berry and Farrell on the field together for nine plays against the Scarlet Knights.

Ruckert checked in for three first-half snaps with the first-team offense, then played nearly all the snaps with the second-team offense, with the exception of the Buckeyes’ final two offensive possessions, when Malone, Rossi and Duarte – all walk-ons – checked in for one play on each series, with all three making their season debuts and Rossi and Duarte making their career debuts for Ohio State.

Offensive Line

Thayer Munford: 52
Malcolm Pridgeon: 52
Michael Jordan: 52
Demetrius Knox: 52
Isaiah Prince: 52
Joshua Alabi: 26
Josh Myers: 26
Wyatt Davis: 26
Nicholas Petit-Frere: 26
Gavin Cupp: 19
Brady Taylor: 7
Kevin Woidke: Special teams only

Munford, Pridgeon, Jordan, Knox and Prince – from left to right – all played every snap of the first half and the first offensive series of the second half in Saturday’s game.

The Buckeyes made one change to their second-team offensive line from the season opener, replacing Taylor at left guard with Cupp, who saw his first playing time at Ohio State on Saturday. Taylor did check into the game at left guard, though, for the Buckeyes’ final two offensive possessions. Alabi at left tackle, Myers at center, Davis at right guard and Petit-Frere at right guard made up the rest of the second-team offensive line.

Defensive Ends

Nick Bosa: 37
Tyreke Smith: 33
Chase Young: 24
Jonathon Cooper: 22
Tyler Friday: 18
Jashon Cornell: 9

Like he did in the season opener, Bosa played nearly all of Ohio State’s first-half defensive snaps (30 of 32). He then played part of the Buckeyes’ first defensive series of the second half before taking a seat on the bench for the rest of the game.

Cooper started for the second game in a row and primarily rotated with Young opposite Bosa with the first-team offense, though Young ended up playing more snaps for the second game in a row because of his position within the Buckeyes’ Rushmen package on their first-team nickel defense, in which Cooper does not play.

The Rushmen package is also why Smith ended up playing the second-most snaps among all defensive ends on Saturday, as he continued to line up with the first-team nickel defense – mostly at defensive tackle – before playing much of the second half in the base defense opposite fellow true freshman Friday at defensive end.

Since Bosa played most of the first-half snaps, and the Buckeyes decided to give most of the second-half snaps to their freshmen, that didn’t leave many snaps at defensive end for Cornell, though he also saw some snaps at defensive tackle with the second-team Rushmen unit.

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Defensive Tackle

Dre’Mont Jones: 35
Robert Landers: 25
Taron Vincent: 14
Tommy Togiai: 12
Davon Hamilton: 10
Antwuan Jackson: 5
Haskell Garrett: 4
Jerron Cage: 3

Like Bosa, Jones was on the field for the vast majority of Ohio State’s defensive plays in the first half and its first defensive series of the second half, then checked out for the rest of the game. Landers started alongside Jones and saw most of his playing time in the first half, too, though he continued to play deeper into the third quarter than Jones.

Hamilton and Garrett were the third and fourth defensive tackles to check into Saturday’s game, but like at defensive end, the Buckeyes opted to give most of the second-team snaps to their freshmen, with Vincent and Togiai playing the most snaps at defensive tackle in the second half.

Jackson and Cage, the Buckeyes’ fourth-team defensive tackles, each saw occasional snaps on Saturday, as they did in the season opener.

Linebackers

Pete Werner: 48
Malik Harrison: 43
Tuf Borland: 21
Baron Browning: 17
Justin Hilliard: 17
Dante Booker: 15
Keandre Jones: 12
Dallas Gant: Special teams only
K’Vaughan Pope: Special teams only
Teradja Mitchell: Special teams only

Werner and Harrison, the Buckeyes’ starting outside linebackers, each played every snap of the first half and the first defensive series of the second half, with Werner staying in the game for one extra series in the third quarter (and Harrison checking back into the game for one snap in the nickel defense).

With Borland still working his way back from a spring Achilles injury, Browning started at middle linebacker for the second straight week, but Borland ended up playing more snaps than Browning in Saturday’s game even though he came off the bench, perhaps setting the stage for Borland to play in a more full-time capacity against TCU.

Hilliard, Booker and Jones finished off the game as the second-team linebackers, with Hilliard first checking in to replace Harrison at outside linebacker before sliding over to middle linebacker once Booker and Jones entered the game alongside him.

Cornerbacks

Damon Arnette: 37
Kendall Sheffield: 31
Shaun Wade: 27
Jeffrey Okudah: 22
Marcus Williamson: 21
Cameron Brown: 5

The Buckeyes made one big change to their cornerback rotation on Saturday by promoting Wade to the role of first-team nickel cornerback, playing him in the slot every time they brought their nickel defense onto the field in the first three quarters. Wade also saw playing time as an outside cornerback in the second half of Saturday’s game.

Arnette, Sheffield and Okudah continued to rotate at the outside cornerback position with the first-team defense, but Arnette – who had previously played the role of slot cornerback in the nickel defense – played exclusively on the outside against Rutgers, as did Sheffield and Okudah.

Williamson played most of the snaps opposite Wade with the second-team defense, though Brown also had the opportunity to play a few snaps in the fourth quarter.

Safeties

Jordan Fuller: 42
Isaiah Pryor: 34
Jahsen Wint: 26
Brendon White: 13
Amir Riep: 11
Josh Proctor: Special teams only

With Fuller back in the starting lineup, Pryor and Wint – who both started against Oregon State – rotated alongside of Fuller on Saturday, though Pryor started the game and played the majority of first-team snaps. After Fuller checked out of the game, Pryor and Wint also played alongside each other for one series in the third quarter, while Wint played one additional series in the fourth quarter.

White and Riep finished out the game at safety with the second-team defense.

Jordan Fuller (4) returned from injury to join Malik Harrison (39) in Ohio State's starting lineup on Saturday. Aaron Doster – USA TODAY Sports

Field Goals/Extra Points

Sean Nuernberger (kicker)
Drue Chrisman (holder)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Luke Farrell (blocker)
Joshua Alabi (blocker)
Wyatt Davis (blocker)
Josh Myers (blocker)
Davon Hamilton (blocker)
Gavin Cupp (blocker)
Kevin Woidke (blocker)
Rashod Berry (blocker)

Cupp was the only new addition to the place kicking unit in Saturday’s game, replacing Malcolm Pridgeon from the season opener.

Kickoffs

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Jeffrey Okudah or Shaun Wade (gunner)
Marcus Williamson or Cameron Brown (gunner)
Keandre Jones or Brian Snead (gunner)
Baron Browning or K’Vaughan Pope (gunner)
Dallas Gant (gunner)
Dante Booker or Jeffrey Okudah or Brendon White (gunner)
Isaiah Pryor or Josh Proctor (gunner)
K.J. Hill or Chris Olave (gunner)
Justin Hilliard or Teradja Mitchell (gunner)
Jahsen Wint or Amir Riep (gunner)

Pete Werner and Austin Mack, who started on the kickoff unit in the season opener, did not play on that unit against Rutgers, with Hill and Gant taking their places in the lineup. Wint also replaced Riep in the starting kickoff unit from the season opener, though Riep also saw playing time against Rutgers.

Outside of Wint, Hill and Cameron Brown, every other player who saw playing time on the kickoff unit against the Scarlet Knights also saw playing time on that unit against the Beavers.

Kickoff Returns

Johnnie Dixon or Demario McCall (returner)
C.J. Saunders (returner/blocker)
Luke Farrell (blocker)
Justin Hilliard (blocker)
Rashod Berry (blocker)
Brendon White (blocker)
Dallas Gant (blocker)
Shaun Wade (blocker)
Jahsen Wint (blocker)
Dante Booker (blocker)
Binjimen Victor (blocker)

Dixon and McCall each had the opportunity to return one of Rutgers’ two kickoffs on Saturday, splitting time as the lead kickoff returner once again after doing so in the season opener. Victor was the only new addition to the kickoff return unit from the season opener, replacing Pryor.

Punts

Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Jonathon Cooper (upback)
Baron Browning or Tuf Borland or Luke Farrell (upback)
Pete Werner (upback)
Malik Harrison (guard)
Justin Hilliard (guard)
Dante Booker (tackle)
Parris Campbell or Isaiah Pryor (tackle)
Terry McLaurin or Marcus Williamson (gunner)
Jeffrey Okudah or Cameron Brown (gunner)

The Buckeyes made an adjustment to their punting formation against Rutgers, putting three protectors behind the line – adding a third upback alongside Cooper and Werner, who each played in that role in the season opener – while playing two linemen on each side of the long snapper, and only two gunners instead of three. Borland made his debut on the punt team after being held out of special teams action in the season opener, while Booker, Campbell, Pryor, Williamson and Brown were also new additions to the punt team from the season opener.

Punt Returns/Blocks

Demario McCall or C.J. Saunders (returner)
Kendall Sheffield or Cameron Brown (rusher/blocker)
Pete Werner (rusher/blocker)
Marcus Williamson (rusher/blocker)
Dante Booker (rusher/blocker)
Isaiah Pryor (rusher/blocker)
Dallas Gant (rusher/blocker)
Jeffrey Okudah or Justin Hilliard (rusher/blocker)
Shaun Wade (rusher/blocker)
Amir Riep (rusher/blocker)
Damon Arnette or Jeffrey Okudah (rusher/blocker)

Also like the season opener, McCall and Saunders split playing time at punt returner on Saturday, though Saunders saw most of the snaps in that role after McCall was on the field for two of Rutgers’ first three punts and failed to field either one of them cleanly.

Except for Brown, every player who took the field with the punt team against Rutgers also played at least one snap on the punting unit against Oregon State.