The spring game looks different than a typical game in many ways, and one way is the distribution of playing time.
While Ohio State’s best players would play most – and in some cases, all – of the Buckeyes’ snaps in a regular game, many of them came out of the game early in Saturday’s spring game in Ohio Stadium, opening the door for walk-ons and other players further down the depth chart to see more playing time than usual. There were also less total snaps than there would be in a typical game, as the second half of Saturday’s game used a running clock.
After dividing its roster into Scarlet and Gray teams – with the first-team defense starting the game for Scarlet and the first-team offense lining up for the Gray side – Ohio State put a total of 85 players on the field in Saturday’s spring-ending scrimmage, as nearly every healthy player saw at least some playing time on offense or defense.
Because the team was split up and some of the team’s more established players only saw limited playing time, the snap counts from Saturday’s spring game aren’t indicative of how the Buckeyes’ depth chart the stacks up the same way they would be for a regular-season game. We can dig into the context behind those numbers, though, to get a better idea of why each Buckeye saw the amount of playing time they did on Saturday and how that could translate to what their roles could be when the actual season begins this fall.
All snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge and should be considered unofficial, as Ohio State does not make its official snap counts public.
Quarterbacks
Matthew Baldwin: 60 (42 for Scarlet, 18 for Gray)
Justin Fields: 32 (Gray)
Chris Chugunov: 14 (Scarlet)
Danny Vanatsky: 8 (Scarlet)
Fields played the majority of snaps for the Gray team and the first-team offense (32 of 50 offensive snaps), but Baldwin ended up playing nearly twice as many snaps because he took reps with both teams. Baldwin played the majority of snaps for the Scarlet team and the second-team offense, but also led three possessions for the Gray offense.
Because Baldwin began the game as a member of the Gray team, Chugunov started the game for the Scarlet offense, but he played only three total possessions. Vanatsky, a walk-on, checked in for the game’s final series.
Running Backs
Marcus Crowley: 32 (Scarlet)
Master Teague: 26 (Gray)
Xavier Johnson: 20 (Scarlet)
J.K. Dobbins: 12 (Gray)
Robert Cope: 12 (Gray)
Amari McMahon: 12 (Scarlet)
Dobbins, Ohio State’s undisputed starter at running back, played just three possessions on what was an expectedly light day of work as the Buckeyes keep him fresh for the fall. Teague, the frontrunner to be the Buckeyes’ No. 2 running back, played the majority of the game with the first-team offense in Dobbins’ place; Cope, a walk-on, took over for Gray’s final two possessions.
Crowley, an early enrollee freshman and the only other available scholarship running back for Saturday’s game besides Dobbins and Teague, played exactly half of the offensive snaps for Scarlet, with walk-ons Johnson and McMahon taking the rest of the work. Demario McCall, who was sidelined by a calf issue all spring, was dressed for Saturday’s game but did not play due to his injury.
Wide Receivers
Jaelen Gill: 64 (Scarlet)
Garrett Wilson: 60 (Scarlet)
Ellijah Gardiner: 53 (Scarlet)
Austin Mack: 31 (Gray)
Binjimen Victor: 29 (Gray)
K.J. Hill: 26 (Gray)
Garyn Prater: 22 (Gray)
Sam Wiglusz: 17 (Gray)
C.J. Saunders: 15 (Gray)
Austin Kutscher: 13 (Scarlet)
De’Shawn White: 9 (Gray)
The Buckeyes’ three most experienced receivers, Mack, Victor and Hill each started the game for the first-team offense and played the majority of the first half. Saunders and Prater also mixed in for some first-half snaps with the Gray offense; Prater and Wiglusz played all of the second-half snaps at the outside receiver spots, with White replacing Saunders in the slot for the fourth quarter.
Gill played every single offensive snap for the Scarlet offense at H-back, while Wilson and Gardiner also played the vast majority of the game for the Scarlet team at the outside receiver spots. Kutscher was the only other wide receiver to take the field for Scarlet.
Chris Olave did not play in the spring game due to a hamstring injury, while Jaylen Harris was sidelined by a head injury.
Tight Ends
Jeremy Ruckert: 31 (21 for Scarlet, 10 for Gray)
Jake Hausmann: 24 (Scarlet)
Rashod Berry: 17 (Gray)
Luke Farrell: 16 (Gray)
Brock Davin: 11 (Scarlet)
Derrick Malone: 10 (Scarlet)
Mitch Rossi: 8 (Gray)
Just as they did last season, Farrell and Berry rotated at the tight end position with the first-team offense on Saturday. They alternated series for the entire half.
Ruckert, who is also expected to see some playing time in the tight end rotation this season, started the game with the Scarlet offense but switched sides for the second half, giving him the opportunity to see some playing time alongside Fields and members of the first-team offensive line.
Hausmann and Ruckert rotated for the Scarlet offense in the first half of Saturday’s game, while the Buckeyes’ three walk-on tight ends – Davin, Malone and Rossi – each saw their playing time for their respective teams in the second half.
Offensive Line
Kevin Woidke: 64 (Scarlet)
Matthew Jones: 64 (Scarlet)
Ryan Jacoby: 64 (Scarlet)
Max Wray: 64 (Scarlet)
Gavin Cupp: 56 (39 for Scarlet, 17 for Gray)
Joshua Alabi: 50 (Gray)
Branden Bowen: 50 (Gray)
Nicholas Petit-Frere: 50 (Gray)
Josh Myers: 33 (Gray)
Wyatt Davis: 33 (Gray)
Nathan Brock: 25 (Scarlet)
Jack Jamieson: 17 (Gray)
With returning left tackle Thayer Munford sidelined by injury, the first-team offensive line for the spring game consisted of Alabi at left tackle, Bowen at left guard, Myers at center, Davis at right guard and Petit-Frere at right tackle. Myers and Davis, who appear to be established starters at their positions, were replaced in the second half by Jamieson at center and Cupp at right guard. Alabi, Bowen and Petit-Frere, who are still competing to potentially start, played the entire game.
The second-team offensive line consisted of Woidke at left tackle, Cupp at left guard, Jones at center, Jacoby at right guard and Wray at right tackle. Brock took over at left guard for the second half after Cupp switched sides, but the rest of the Scarlet offensive line remained the same for the entire game.
Joshua Alabi (58) and Branden Bowen (76) played the entire game at left tackle and left guard for the Gray offense in Saturday's spring game.
Defensive Ends
Noah Potter: 50 (Gray)
Alex Williams: 50 (Gray)
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 39 (Gray)
Zach Harrison: 29 (Scarlet)
Tyreke Smith: 28 (Scarlet)
Tyler Friday: 19 (Scarlet)
Chase Young: 12 (Scarlet)
Jonathon Cooper: 12 (Scarlet)
Young and Cooper, both returning starters, played three of the first four series of the game with the first-team defense before heading to the bench. Smith, Harrison and Friday rotated as the Scarlet defensive ends for the rest of the game.
Williams, Jean-Baptiste and Potter rotated at defensive end for the entire game for the Gray defense. Potter, an early enrollee, also played 11 snaps inside at defensive tackle.
Defensive Tackles
Haskell Garrett: 56 (Gray)
Antwuan Jackson: 44 (Gray)
Tommy Togiai: 33 (Scarlet)
Taron Vincent: 33 (Scarlet)
Zaid Hamdan: 27 (17 for Gray, 10 for Scarlet)
Jashon Cornell: 12 (Scarlet)
Davon Hamilton: 12 (Scarlet)
Like Young and Cooper, Cornell and Hamilton each played three of the game’s first four series as starting defensive linemen before coming off the field for the rest of the day. Togiai and Vincent, both sophomores who saw occasional playing time in the rotation last year, played most of the rest of the snaps for the Scarlet defense, with Hamdan – a walk-on – also mixing in during the second half.
Garrett and Jackson played the majority of snaps at defensive tackle for the Gray squad, with Hamdan mixing in during the first half before switching teams at halftime.
Robert Landers and Jerron Cage did not play in the spring game due to injuries.
Linebackers
Dallas Gant: 51 (Gray)
Teradja Mitchell: 48 (Gray)
Trayvon Wilburn: 27 (Scarlet)
K’Vaughan Pope: 26 (Gray)
Ben Schmiesing: 26 (Scarlet)
Baron Browning: 21 (Scarlet)
Malik Harrison: 21 (Scarlet)
Logan Hittle: 21 (Gray)
Pete Werner: 11 (Scarlet)
Cade Kacherski: 10 (Scarlet)
With Tuf Borland sidelined by a knee injury, Browning started the game at middle linebacker alongside Harrison at weakside linebacker and Werner at strongside linebacker. Browning and Harrison each played the first 21 snaps for the Scarlet defense before coming out of the game. Werner played 11 of the first 15 snaps, but came out of the game in favor of Brendon White – playing the new Bullet position – on plays where the defense only lined up with two traditional linebackers.
Wilburn, Schmiesing and Kacherski – all walk-ons – replaced the starters at linebacker for the rest of the game, with Wilburn playing primarily at weakside linebacker, Schmiesing at middle linebacker and Kacherski at strongside linebacker.
The sophomore trio of Gant, Mitchell and Pope played most of the snaps for the Gray defense, with Gant at weakside linebacker, Mitchell at middle linebacker and Pope at strongside linebacker. Pope also some playing time at inside linebacker in place of Mitchell on the game’s final defensive series, while walk-on Hittle mixed in for some playing time at the outside linebacker spots.
The sophomore trio of Dallas Gant (19), K'Vaughan Pope (36) and Teradja Mitchell (7) led the Gray defense at linebacker on Saturday.
Cornerbacks
Amir Riep: 50 (Gray)
Tyreke Johnson: 49 (Gray)
Cameron Brown: 35 (Scarlet)
Lloyd McFarquhar: 35 (Scarlet)
Sevyn Banks: 32 (Gray)
Darryl Sinclair: 32 (Gray)
Damon Arnette: 15 (Scarlet)
Jeffrey Okudah: 15 (Scarlet)
Shaun Wade: 15 (Scarlet)
Arnette, Okudah and Wade were all on the field for every snap of the first-team defense’s first four series; Arnette and Okudah lined up as the outside cornerbacks, while Wade lined up at both slot cornerback and safety. Brown and McFarquhar took over as the outside cornerbacks for the Scarlet defense for the remainder of the game.
For the Gray defense, Banks played 32 of the first 34 snaps at outside cornerback before coming out of the game. Johnson played the game’s first 35 snaps at outside cornerback and continued to rotate in during the second half. Riep started the game playing the same role as Wade as a slot cornerback/safety, but also saw some playing time at outside cornerback in the second half. Sinclair, a walk-on, played the entire second half at outside cornerback.
Marcus Williamson did not play due to injury.
Safeties
Jahsen Wint: 46 (Gray)
Josh Proctor: 39 (Gray)
Kevin Dever: 35 (Scarlet)
Brendon White: 34 (Scarlet)
Owen Fankhauser: 29 (Gray)
Isaiah Pryor: 27 (Scarlet)
Ryan Batsch: 25 (Gray)
Luke Donovan: 23 (Scarlet)
Both defenses played in single-high safety looks for much of Saturday’s game, with Pryor starting in that role for the first-team defense and Proctor opening in that role for the second-team defense. With Jordan Fuller sidelined by injury, Pryor played the first 29 snaps of the game with the starters before checking out of the scrimmage.
In a mild surprise, White was not in the starting lineup for the Scarlet defense on Saturday, but mixed in early in nickel packages, then played most of the rest of the game after Wade exited. In his new Bullet role, White lined up in a variety of alignments over the course of the game, sometimes playing as a traditional safety while other times playing closer to the line of scrimmage.
The same was true for Wint, who did not start the game for the Gray defense but mixed in early and often, and ended up being one of the stars of the game, intercepting two passes and recording four tackles.
Among walk-ons, Dever played each of the final 35 snaps for the Scarlet defense, while Donovan played the final 23. Fankhauser played the final 29 snaps for the Gray defense, while Batsch played the final 25.
Marcus Hooker and early enrollee Ronnie Hickman did not play due to injuries.
Field Goals/Extra Points
Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Drue Chrisman (holder)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Luke Farrell (wing)
Jake Hausmann (rocker)
Nicholas Petit-Frere (tackle)
Gavin Cupp (guard)
Ryan Jacoby (guard)
Kevin Woidke (tackle)
Jeremy Ruckert (rocker)
Rashod Berry (wing)
Ohio State used the same lineup for all of its extra point attempts and its only field goal attempt between the Scarlet and Gray teams on Saturday, with the four scholarship tight ends manning the four outside spots on the blocking unit. They were joined by a trio of backup offensive linemen and Petit-Frere, who probably won’t stay on the place kicking unit if he ends up starting at right tackle but needs experience on special teams after redshirting last season.
Punts
Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Jonathon Cooper (upback)
Pete Werner (upback)
Malik Harrison (guard)
Dallas Gant (guard)
Austin Mack (tackle)
Isaiah Pryor (tackle)
Jeremy Ruckert (wing)
Sevyn Banks (gunner)
Ellijah Gardiner (gunner)
Ohio State used the same unit for all punting plays as well, with Chrisman, McCullough, Cooper, Werner, Harrison and Pryor all returning to the unit from last season. Gant took the spot in the lineup that was manned last season by Justin Hilliard, who suffered an Achilles injury this spring, while Mack and Ruckert were also new additions to the lineup. Banks and Gardiner got some experience playing as gunners, a role that was fulfilled primarily by Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon, Jeffrey Okudah and Chris Olave last season.
Because Ohio State did not practice live punt returns in this game, TV replays did not make it possible to record an accurate lineup for the punt return unit. Jaelen Gill and Garrett Wilson were called upon to fair catch the punts, though – Gill twice and Wilson once – with mostly walk-ons getting reps in the other roles on the unit.
