Snap Counts: 71 Ohio State Players See Game Action in Buckeyes' 56-21 Win at Rutgers

Starting cornerback Damon Arnette, who has been playing through a wrist injury all season, was held out of Saturday’s 56-21 win. Backup kicker/punter Zach Hoover and backup long snapper Roen McCullough didn’t see any reps against the Scarlet Knights, either.

Everyone else on the travel roster – not including defensive end Jonathon Cooper and wide receiver C.J. Saunders, captains who received waivers to travel with the team but were unavailable to play due to injuries – did see playing time as the Buckeyes pulled away to yet another blowout win.

Ohio State took its starters out of the game after its opening drive of the second half, giving its backups yet another opportunity – perhaps the last opportunity, as the Buckeyes will face tougher competition for the rest of the season – for extended playing time.

As a result, more Ohio State players got on the field than in any previous road game this year.

We run down how much all of them played in Snap Counts, Eleven Warriors’ exclusive weekly look of how Ohio State splits up its playing time on offense, defense and special teams.

All snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors and should be considered unofficial. It is not always possible to see all players on special teams units from TV camera angles for special teams units, so exact snap counts for those units are not listed.

Quarterbacks

Justin Fields: 41
Chris Chugunov: 31
Gunnar Hoak: 8

Fields played all 36 of Ohio State’s first-half offensive snaps and the first five snaps of the second half against Rutgers, and that was enough for the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback to throw for a career-high 305 yards and four touchdowns with 15 completions on 19 attempts and get the Buckeyes out to a 42-7 lead.

Chugunov replaced Fields on the second possession of the third quarter and played a season-high 31 snaps before Hoak, in his fifth game appearance of the season, came in for the Buckeyes’ final two possessions of the day.

Running Backs

J.K. Dobbins: 36
Master Teague: 24
Steele Chambers: 20

Dobbins played every offensive snap of the first half on Saturday and ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. The Buckeyes gave Teague the entire third quarter, and he ran for 45 yards on 10 carries. Chambers, in his fourth game appearance of the year, took over at running back in the fourth quarter and played the final 20 snaps of the game, running for 56 yards on nine carries.

Wide Receivers

Garrett Wilson: 38
Jameson Williams: 37
K.J. Hill: 33
Chris Olave: 31
Binjimen Victor: 26
Jaelen Gill: 14 
Xavier Johnson: 8
Sam Wiglusz: 8
Jaylen Harris: 7
Demario McCall: 5

Olave, Victor and Hill were the Buckeyes’ starting wide receivers for the third game in a row as Austin Mack remained sidelined due to injury. Wilson and Williams played the most snaps among Ohio State receivers, though, as they rotated in with the first-team offense in the first half and then continued to play with the second-team offense for most of the second half.

Gill, who had not played in three of Ohio State’s previous four games, tied his season-high with 14 snaps – all in the second half – and scored his first career touchdown on a highlight-reel, 32-yard play on which he caught a screen pass, made several defenders miss, spun through another defender and finally, carried Rutgers cornerback (and former Ohio State commit) Tre Avery into the end zone.

.@jaelengill21 gave a free ride to the end zone. @OhioStateFB is rolling: pic.twitter.com/CB8Z2FFo0C

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 16, 2019

Johnson, Wiglusz, Harris and McCall also saw playing time in the second half, with Wiglusz making his first career catch and McCall playing only at H-back after finishing out the Buckeyes’ previous game against Maryland at running back.

Tight Ends

Jake Hausmann: 34
Jeremy Ruckert: 28
Luke Farrell: 21
Rashod Berry: 16
Mitch Rossi: 14

Because of the lopsided nature of the game, Hausmann led the Buckeyes’ tight ends in snaps for a second week in a row, as he played the majority of the second half – and caught his first career touchdown on a 4-yard pass – after rotating in for just three snaps in the first half.

Farrell started for the 10th game in a row to begin this season, but came out of the game with the rest of the offensive starters after catching a 14-yard touchdown pass on the Buckeyes’ opening drive of the third quarter.

Ruckert and Berry also saw regular playing time in the first-half tight end rotation, with Ruckert playing at least 20 snaps for the 10th game in a row, while Rossi – who played all of his offensive snaps in the fourth quarter – played at least 14 snaps for the third time in four games. 

Offensive Linemen

Thayer Munford: 41
Jonah Jackson: 41
Josh Myers: 41
Wyatt Davis: 41
Branden Bowen: 41
Dawand Jones: 39 
Enokk Vimahi: 39
Harry Miller: 39
Gavin Cupp: 39
Nicholas Petit-Frere: 39
Kevin Woidke: Special teams only
Max Wray: Special teams only

Ohio State’s starting offensive line of Munford, Jackson, Myers, Davis and Bowen played through the Buckeyes’ first drive of the third quarter. After Fields came out of the game, they came out of the game as well and were replaced for the rest of the game by the second-team offensive line of Jones, Vimahi, Miller, Cupp and Petit-Frere.

Those 39 third- and fourth-quarter snaps were a career-high to date for Jones and Vimahi, both true freshmen, with Vimahi making just his second game appearance of the year in place of Matthew Jones, who was unavailable to play due to injury.

RELATED Freshman Tracker: Zach Harrison Rushes Rutgers, Steele Chambers Returns to Action and Six Freshmen Set Career-Highs

Defensive Ends

Tyler Friday: 26
Zach Harrison: 24
Alex Williams: 23
Cade Stover: 22
Tyreke Smith: 18
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 16
Rashod Berry: 6

With Chase Young serving the final game of his two-game suspension and Jonathon Cooper also unavailable due to injury, New Jersey natives Friday and Jean-Baptiste got the opportunity to start in their home state.

Harrison and Smith, who were the starting defensive ends against Maryland, also rotated in regularly with the starters. They were treated like starters in the second half, too, as they did not play at all in the third quarter while Jean-Baptiste and Friday did.

Most of the second-half snaps, though, went to Stover and Williams. Stover, a true freshman who had previously seen action as a linebacker, made his debut at defensive end and played more total snaps than he had played in his previous three game appearances. Williams, in just his fifth game appearance of the season, also played his career-high in snaps.

Berry saw playing time on both sides of the ball for the second game in a row, with all of his defensive end snaps also coming in the second half.

Cade Stover played his first 22 snaps at defensive end against Rutgers.

Defensive Tackles

Tommy Togiai: 29
Antwuan Jackson: 26
Haskell Garrett: 20
Jashon Cornell: 18
Davon Hamilton: 16
Robert Landers: 16
Jerron Cage: 12

As has been the case in most games this season, Cornell and Hamilton started at defensive tackle but did not play a ton of snaps due to the Buckeyes’ deep rotation and the starters coming out of the game early. Those two, along with Landers, played only in the first half against Rutgers.

Garrett, the Buckeyes’ No. 2 3-technique tackle, stayed in the game a little longer as he continued to play into the third quarter. Most of the second-half snaps, though, went to third-string tackles Togiai and Jackson, who also rotated in for playing time in the first half. Jackson’s 26 snaps were his career-high.

All of Cage’s 12 snaps came in the third and fourth quarter.

Linebackers

Malik Harrison: 37
Tuf Borland: 37
Brendon White: 24
Pete Werner: 20
Teradja Mitchell: 19 
K’Vaughan Pope: 19
Jahsen Wint: 19
Justin Hilliard: 18
Dallas Gant: 16
Tommy Eichenberg: 4
Craig Young: 4

With Baron Browning sidelined by an injury, Harrison and Borland each played all 37 of the Buckeyes’ first-half defensive snaps as their two inside linebackers.

At strongside linebacker, White rotated in for some first-team snaps with Werner for the second week in a row. That resulted in a lower-than-usual snap count for Werner for the second straight game, but White – who continued to play into the third quarter – played his second-highest snap count of the year.

The Buckeyes put a fourth linebacker onto the field for 14 of their 68 defensive plays in Saturday’s game, and called upon Hilliard to fill that role for 13 of those plays – including seven with the first-team defense – along with five fourth-quarter snaps at Sam linebacker in the base defense.

Mitchell, Pope and Gant played most of the Buckeyes’ second-half snaps at the inside linebacker spots while Wint played 19 of the Buckeyes’ 31 second-half snaps at strongside linebacker. Eichenberg and Young, both true freshmen, checked in as the Buckeyes’ inside linebackers on their final defensive series.

Brendon White played 24 defensive snaps, including 17 before halftime, against Rutgers.

Cornerbacks

Cameron Brown: 47
Sevyn Banks: 37
Shaun Wade: 37
Jeff Okudah: 32
Amir Riep: 24
Tyreke Johnson: 13
Marcus Williamson: Special teams only

Banks made his first career start in place of Arnette and played a career-high 37 snaps, as he played the majority of first-half snaps opposite Okudah and continued to play into the fourth quarter.

Brown also rotated in for more playing time than usual with the first-team defense – even replacing Okudah on five plays in the first half – and played every snap of the second half to set his own career-high for playing time.

Wade played all 37 of Ohio State’s first-half defensive snaps. He started at his usual position of slot cornerback in the Buckeyes’ base defense, but also played seven snaps at outside cornerback when their 4-4-3 defense was on the field.

Riep played the entire second half at slot cornerback for the 24 third- and fourth-quarter plays that the Buckeyes had three cornerbacks on the field, while Johnson – who typically wears No. 13 but wore No. 6 in the second half of Saturday's game – took over for Banks in the fourth quarter at outside cornerback.

Safeties

Jordan Fuller: 37
Josh Proctor: 20
Marcus Hooker: 11
Bryson Shaw: Special teams only

Fuller played every snap of the first half for the Buckeyes at deep safety. Proctor took over for the start of the second half until the Buckeyes’ final two defensive series of the game, at which Hooker came in to finish out the fourth quarter.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Drue Chrisman (holder)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Luke Farrell or Mitch Rossi (wing)
Harry Miller (rocker)
Wyatt Davis or Max Wray (tackle)
Gavin Cupp (guard)
Jerron Cage (guard)
Dawand Jones (tackle)
Kevin Woidke (rocker)
Jeremy Ruckert (wing)

The Buckeyes made no changes to their place-kicking unit, which went 8-for-8 on extra points and did not attempt any field goals against Rutgers, from their previous game against Maryland.

Kickoffs

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Bryson Shaw (gunner)
Sevyn Banks or Cameron Brown (gunner)
Jameson Williams or Tyreke Johnson (gunner)
Dallas Gant or Cade Stover (gunner)
Marcus Hooker (gunner)
Marcus Williamson or Amir Riep (gunner)
K’Vaughan Pope or Xavier Johnson (gunner)
Josh Proctor or Tommy Eichenberg (gunner)
Craig Young (gunner)
Jahsen Wint (gunner)

Shaw, in his third game appearance of the season, got his first start on the kickoff coverage unit against Rutgers. Fellow true freshmen Williams and Young started on the kickoff unit for the second game in a row, while Stover and Eichenberg also substituted onto the unit for the Buckeyes’ final kickoff of the game.

Kickoff Returns

Demario McCall (returner)
Steele Chambers (blocker)
Xavier Johnson (blocker/returner)
Mitch Rossi (blocker)
Jake Hausmann (blocker)
Jeremy Ruckert or Tommy Eichenberg (blocker)
Dallas Gant (blocker)
Marcus Hooker (blocker)
Jahsen Wint (blocker)
Jaylen Harris or Sam Wiglusz (blocker)
Tyreke Johnson (blocker)

Chambers lined up as the secondary kickoff returner in place of fellow true freshman running back Marcus Crowley, who didn’t make the trip to Rutgers due to injury, but did not return any kicks against the Scarlet Knights. McCall had one kickoff return for 14 yards while Johnson, a walk-on who has been a regular on special teams this year, had a 19-yard return after scooping a squib kick.

Punts

Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Tuf Borland or Mitch Rossi (upback)
Jake Hausmann (upback)
Luke Farrell or Jeremy Ruckert (wing)
Justin Hilliard or Jahsen Wint (tackle)
Malik Harrison or Justin Hilliard (guard)
Dallas Gant (guard)
Jordan Fuller or Xavier Johnson (tackle)
Cameron Brown (gunner)
Chris Olave or Sam Wiglusz (gunner)

Ohio State went with its regular group of starters on the punting unit for Chrisman’s only first-half punt of Saturday’s game, then turned to Rossi, Ruckert, Wint, Johnson and Wiglusz to play second-half snaps in place of Borland, Farrell, Harrison, Fuller and Olave for the second game in a row.

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Punt Returns/Blocks

Garrett Wilson (returner)
Demario McCall (returner)
Cameron Brown (rusher/blocker)
Sevyn Banks or Bryson Shaw (rusher/blocker)
Xavier Johnson (rusher/blocker)
Marcus Hooker (rusher/blocker)
Jahsen Wint (rusher/blocker)
Justin Hilliard or Craig Young (rusher/blocker)
Dallas Gant (rusher/blocker)
Jameson Williams or Tommy Eichenberg (rusher/blocker)
Shaun Wade or Tyreke Johnson (rusher/blocker)

Ohio State lined up with dual returners for all 10 of Rutgers’ punts. Wilson and McCall were both back deep for every punt and each fielded their share of punts over the course of the game. McCall had the only return for positive yardage between them (one for 14 yards) against the Scarlet Knights, while Wilson was responsible for a muffed punt that gave Rutgers the ball in Ohio State territory and set up its only first-half touchdown.