Snap Counts: 74 Buckeyes Play As Backups See Extended Playing Time in Ohio State's 49-6 Blowout Win over Tulane

As the Buckeyes took a 42-6 lead into the break of their final non-conference game, nearly all of starters watched from the sidelines after halftime, as Ohio State took the opportunity to give its backups extended playing time in the third and fourth quarters against one of the weakest opponents it will play this season.

As a result, 74 total Ohio State players saw the field against the Green Wave – the second-highest total so far this season, only behind the Buckeyes’ 52-3 rout of Rutgers in their second game of the season – and 69 of those 74 Buckeyes played at least two snaps on either offense or defense.

We take a look at those 74 players and how much each of them played in Ohio State’s fourth game of the season in this week’s edition of Snap Counts.

Before we begin, a huge shoutout goes out to Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge, who took on the grunt work of tracking this week’s snaps and will continue to help make Snap Counts possible for the rest of the season.

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: 43
Tate Martell: 34

Like he did in each of Ohio State’s two previous home games against Oregon State and Rutgers, Martell checked in on the Buckeyes’ fifth possession of the game to lead one second-quarter drive with the first-team offense. Haskins played all the other snaps at quarterback in the first half of Saturday’s game, while Martell played the entire second half with the second-team offense.

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Running Backs

J.K. Dobbins: 33
Demario McCall: 19
Master Teague: 13
Mike Weber: 12

Dobbins and Weber alternated series with each other, as they usually do, until Weber suffered a foot strain at the end of a run in the second quarter, which knocked him out for the rest of the game and led to Dobbins playing the majority of the first-half snaps at running back.

McCall, who previously played at H-back against Oregon State and Rutgers, was the third player to check in at running back on Saturday, seeing some playing time at the end of the first half and much of the second half. Teague also checked into the game for one fourth-quarter drive.

Brian Snead, who was the third running back to play in Ohio State’s first two games of the season, was held out of action for a second straight game on Saturday due to an unspecified violation of team rules.

Demario McCall saw his first playing time at running back this season in Saturday's game.

Wide Receivers

Austin Mack: 36
Johnnie Dixon: 29
C.J. Saunders: 29
Parris Campbell: 25
Chris Olave: 24
K.J. Hill: 21
Jaylen Harris: 20
Terry McLaurin: 19
Binjimen Victor: 13
Jaelen Gill: 9
Ellijah Gardiner: 4
Garyn Prater: 4
L'Christian “Blue” Smith: 4

Ohio State continued with its usual six-man receiver rotation with the first-team offense against Tulane – Mack and Victor at X, McLaurin and Dixon at Z and Campbell and Hill in the slot – though Mack saw substantially more playing time than Victor, who played only in the first half on Saturday after previously also taking snaps with the second-team offense in the Buckeyes’ first two blowout wins.

As he did against Rutgers and TCU, Saunders also saw playing time with the first-team offense, exclusively as the second slot receiver when the Buckeyes used four-wide receiver sets, before also playing much of the second half along with Olave at Z and Harris at X.

Gill also saw second-half playing time in the slot, as did Prater at Z and Gardiner and Smith at X, with Smith seeing the first playing time of his Ohio State career.

Tight Ends

Rashod Berry: 23
Jeremy Ruckert: 22
Luke Farrell: 18
Jake Hausmann: 9

Berry started Saturday’s game at tight end and played more snaps than Farrell for a second consecutive game, though the two continued to rotate with the first-team offense, while they were also on the field simultaneously for five two-tight end plays.

Ruckert also played three snaps with the first-team offense before playing the majority of the second half, while Hausmann also played on two series with the second-team offense in his first playing time of the season.

Offensive Line

Thayer Munford: 49
Malcolm Pridgeon: 49
Michael Jordan: 49
Demetrius Knox: 49
Isaiah Prince: 49
Joshua Alabi: 28
Gavin Cupp: 28
Josh Myers: 28
Wyatt Davis: 28
Nicholas Petit-Frere: 28
Kevin Woidke: Special teams only

Munford, Pridgeon, Jordan, Knox and Prince, from left to right, played every offensive snap of Saturday’s first half while Alabi, Cupp, Myers, Davis and Petit-Frere played every snap of the second half. Woidke, who plays on the field goal/extra point unit, was the only non-specialist to see the field only on special teams in Saturday’s game.

Defensive Ends

Tyler Friday: 29
Tyreke Smith: 28
Chase Young: 24
Jonathon Cooper: 24
Jashon Cornell: 21
Aaron Cox: 2
Noah Donald: 2

With Nick Bosa sidelined after undergoing core muscle surgery, Cooper and Young both started Saturday’s game – with Young making his first career start – and played the majority of first-half snaps (24 of 32).

Cornell, Smith and Friday all mixed for occasional first-half snaps – with Smith continuing to play defensive tackle alongside Young, Cooper and Dre’Mont Jones in the Buckeyes’ “Rushmen” package – before seeing increased playing time in the second half.

Cox and Donald, both walk-ons, checked in for Ohio State’s final two defensive plays of the game.

Defensive Tackles

Dre’Mont Jones: 27
Tommy Togiai: 23
Davon Hamilton: 17
Taron Vincent: 16
Haskell Garrett: 13
Antwuan Jackson: 12
Jerron Cage: 8

With Robert Landers also sidelined for Saturday’s game by injury, Hamilton made his first start on the Buckeyes’ defensive line alongside Jones, and both of them also played exclusively in the first half of the game, with Jones playing 27 of the Buckeyes’ first 29 snaps before checking out for the day.

Togiai, Garrett and Vincent each also saw playing time in the first-half rotation – with Togiai seeing the most playing time in rotation with Hamilton – before continuing to gain experience in the second half. Jackson got into the game for the final three plays of the first half, while Cage played only in the second half.

Linebackers

Malik Harrison: 29
Keandre Jones: 29
Dante Booker: 27
Pete Werner: 26
Baron Browning: 21
Justin Hilliard: 21
Tuf Borland: 15
Dallas Gant: 8
Teradja Mitchell: 2
K'Vaughan Pope: 2

Harrison started Saturday’s game at outside linebacker and played every snap until the final three plays of the first half, at which point Jones replaced him in the game. Werner also started the game at outside linebacker and played up until the final two defensive series of the first half, at which point he was replaced in the lineup by Booker.

Borland and Browning continued to rotate at middle linebacker, with Borland starting and playing exclusively in the first half, but Browning also seeing time with the first-team defense and continuing to see some playing time in the second half, though Hilliard saw most of the work at middle linebacker with the second-team defense.

Gant checked in at strongside linebacker for the final two series of Saturday’s game, while Mitchell checked in at middle linebacker and Pope checked in at weakside linebacker for the Buckeyes’ final two defensive plays. It was the first defensive playing time for all three true freshmen.

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Cornerbacks

Damon Arnette: 30
Jeffrey Okudah: 29
Shaun Wade: 25
Kendall Sheffield: 20
Marcus Williamson: 20
Cameron Brown: 10
Tyreke Johnson: 2

The three-man outside cornerback rotation of Sheffield, Arnette and Okudah continued in the first half of Saturday’s game, though Arnette played all but two plays in the first half while Okudah played only 13 first-half snaps, seeing the rest of his playing time in the second half with the second-team defense.

Wade continued to see playing time with the first-team defense as the slot cornerback in nickel packages, but saw most of his snaps on Saturday with the second-team defense, including some fourth-quarter snaps at safety, where he had not previously seen game action this year.

Williamson also saw extensive playing time at cornerback with the second-team defense. Brown was on the field for the Buckeyes’ final two defensive series in Saturday’s game, while Johnson the first defensive playing time of his career on the final two plays of the game.

Safety

Isaiah Pryor: 42
Jordan Fuller: 29
Brendon White: 25
Jahsen Wint: 22
Josh Proctor: 2

Fuller, like Harrison, was on the field for each of Ohio State’s first 29 defensive plays on Saturday before his day came to an end. Pryor was the lone starter on either defense or offense to continue playing into the second half of Saturday’s game, staying on the field for Ohio State’s first two second-half defensive series after playing all but one defensive play in the first half.

After rotating regularly with Pryor alongside Fuller in each of the last two games, Wint did not check into Saturday’s game until Fuller checked out of the lineup, but played the majority of the second half alongside White. Proctor saw his first career defensive playing time on the final two plays of the game.

Isaiah Pryor was the lone Ohio State starter to play more than a half on either offense or defense in Saturday's game.

Field Goals/Extra Points

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

The only change to the Buckeyes’ place kicking unit on Saturday came on their final extra point attempt, when Ruckert took Farrell’s spot in the lineup. Otherwise, the lineup for this unit was exactly the same as it was in the Buckeyes’ two previous games.

Kickoffs

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Keandre Jones (gunner)
Marcus Williamson (gunner)
Dallas Gant (gunner)
Jahsen Wint (gunner)
K'Vaughan Pope (gunner)
Jeffrey Okudah or Tyreke Johnson (gunner)
Isaiah Pryor or Josh Proctor (gunner)
Justin Hilliard or Teradja Mitchell (gunner)
Dante Booker or Shaun Wade or Cameron Brown (gunner)
K.J. Hill or Jake Hausmann (gunner)

After checking in as a mid-game substitution on the kickoff unit in each of Ohio State’s first three games, Pope was elevated to a full-time role on the kickoff unit Saturday in place of Browning, who played only on defense on Saturday. The rest of the starting kickoff unit was the same as it was against Rutgers and TCU. Hausmann was the only player to see snaps on the kickoff unit who did not previously see playing time on that unit in the first three games.

Kickoff Returns

Johnnie Dixon or Demario McCall (returner)
C.J. Saunders (returner)
Binjimen Victor (blocker)
Dallas Gant (blocker)
Jahsen Wint (blocker)
Shaun Wade or Marcus Williamson (blocker)
Brendon White (blocker)
Justin Hilliard (blocker)
Dante Booker (blocker)
Jake Hausmann (blocker)
Jeremy Ruckert (blocker)

Dixon lined up as the primary kickoff returner on Tulane’s opening kickoff, while McCall came in for Tulane’s only other kickoff of the game, though that one was returned by Saunders (McCall initially had the opportunity to return that kickoff, but it was re-kicked after offsetting penalties). Ruckert and Hausmann were new additions to the kickoff return unit on Saturday, taking the spots previously occupied by the two tight ends in front of them on the depth chart, Farrell and Berry.

Punts

Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Tuf Borland (upback)
Teradja Mitchell (upback/tackle)
Keandre Jones (wing/upback)
Malik Harrison (guard)
Justin Hilliard (guard)
Dante Booker (tackle)
Parris Campbell (tackle) or Marcus Williamson (gunner)
Jeffrey Okudah (gunner)
Terry McLaurin (gunner)

Mitchell and Jones made their debuts on the punting unit in Saturday’s game, replacing Cooper and Werner, who each lined up on the punting unit in the Buckeyes’ first three contests. The rest of the players on the unit were each already on the punt team in the previous game against TCU.

Punt Blocks/Returns

K.J. Hill or Demario McCall (returner)
C.J. Saunders (returner)
Isaiah Pryor (rusher/blocker)
Keandre Jones (rusher/blocker)
Marcus Williamson (rusher/blocker)
Dallas Gant or Teradja Mitchell (rusher/blocker)
Jahsen Wint (rusher/blocker)
Brendon White (rusher/blocker)
Cameron Brown (rusher/blocker)
Justin Hilliard (rusher/blocker)
Dante Booker (rusher/blocker)

Hill, who was Ohio State’s primary punt returner throughout the 2017 season, returned to that role for the first time this season on Saturday, taking the field for each of Tulane’s first three punts before being replaced by McCall. For all but the Green Wave’s final punt on Saturday, the Buckeyes had two returners on the field, with Saunders also returning two punts.

White and Mitchell will new additions to the punt block/return unit on Saturday, while the rest of the players in the lineup all saw playing time on the unit in previous games.