Snap Counts: 69 Buckeyes See Playing Time on the Road As Ohio State Blows Out Rutgers

The only players who were on Ohio State’s travel roster for the Rutgers game that were available to play and did not play at all against the Scarlet Knights were true freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers, true freshman safety Andre Turrentine and backup specialists Dominic DiMaccio, Michael O’Shaughnessy and Mason Arnold.

Aside from wide receiver Kamryn Babb and linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, who were unavailable to play due to injuries, every other Buckeye in Piscataway saw the field in Saturday’s 52-13 win as 69 total Ohio State players – including 31 different players on offense and 34 different players on defense – got the chance to play as the Buckeyes were able to clear their bench once again.

We take a look at how all of those snaps broke down below. All offensive and defensive snap counts are courtesy of Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics, while special teams snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge.

Quarterbacks

C.J. Stroud: 50
Kyle McCord: 11
Jack Miller: 7

Three Ohio State quarterbacks saw playing time in the same game for the first time this year against Rutgers. 

After sitting out the Akron game to rest his shoulder, Stroud returned to the starting lineup, played all of Ohio State’s first 50 offensive snaps and threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns in the process. After the Buckeyes went up 52-6 on Stroud’s fifth touchdown pass of the day, which came on the opening drive of the third quarter, McCord entered the game for Ohio State’s next two possessions while Miller checked in for the Buckeyes’ final two drives.

RELATED Healthy C.J. Stroud Shows Why He’s Ohio State’s Starting Quarterback in 330-Yard, Five-Touchdown Performance Against Rutgers

Running Backs

Master Teague: 30
TreVeyon Henderson: 16
Marcus Crowley: 15
Evan Pryor: 7

Henderson started his third consecutive game against Rutgers and played most of the Buckeyes’ first quarter snaps, but did not return to the game after he was evaluated by the medical staff following a big hit late in the first quarter. Ryan Day said after the game that Henderson could have returned to action, but Day opted to hold the star freshman out because he “didn’t want to take a chance.”

With Miyan Williams also unavailable to play against Rutgers, Teague played a majority of the snaps at running back following Henderson’s departure, though Crowley also mixed in for his first offensive snaps since the season opener at Minnesota. Pryor substituted in for Ohio State’s final seven offensive plays for the second week in a row.

Wide Receivers

Chris Olave: 48
Garrett Wilson: 44
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 42
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 18
Emeka Egbuka: 14
Jayden Ballard: 5
Chris Booker: 4
Xavier Johnson: 4
Sam Wiglusz: 4

Olave, Wilson and Smith-Njigba were each on the field for more than 40 plays as the Buckeyes continued to rely almost exclusively on their starting trio of wide receivers while Stroud and the first-team offense were in the game. Olave and Wilson played only with Stroud, but Smith-Njigba remained in the game to play some snaps on McCord’s first series.

Harrison and Egbuka also mixed in for occasional snaps with the first-team offense before playing most of the snaps on Ohio State’s first three possessions after Stroud exited the game, with Ballard also joining them on the second-team offense for five plays.

The walk-on trio of Booker, Johnson and Wiglusz entered the game at wide receiver for Ohio State’s final offensive series.

Tight Ends

Jeremy Ruckert: 39
Cade Stover: 20
Gee Scott Jr.: 15
Mitch Rossi: 13

Ruckert played all but 11 snaps with the first-team offense and had his biggest game of the season to date, catching four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown at Rutgers, which is located just a couple hours away from his hometown of Lindenhurst, New York.

Scott played the third-most snaps among tight ends behind Stover for the second game in a row as he saw extended second-half playing time. Rossi, who mixed in for playing time with both the first- and second-team offenses, caught the first touchdown pass of his career in the second quarter of Saturday’s game.

RELATED Rutgers Notebook: Mitch Rossi Scores First Touchdown, Denzel Burke Gets A Pick-Six and TreVeyon Henderson “Ready to Go” Despite Leaving Game Early

Offensive Linemen

Luke Wypler: 61
Nicholas Petit-Frere: 50
Thayer Munford: 45
Dawand Jones: 39
Matt Jones: 38
Paris Johnson Jr.: 35
Donovan Jackson: 20
Josh Fryar: 18
Enokk Vimahi: 18
Harry Miller: 11
Toby Wilson: 7

With Munford back in the lineup at left guard after missing the Akron game with an ankle injury, Ohio State experimented with a variety of lineups up front against Rutgers.

Although Munford started at left guard and Johnson rotated at right guard, Matt Jones also rotated in for snaps with the first-team offensive line at both spots. For the first-team offense’s lone drive of the second half, Munford moved back to his old position of left tackle while Petit-Frere moved back to his old position of right tackle, with Matt Jones in at left guard and Dawand Jones on the sideline.

Petit-Frere and Wypler were the only offensive linemen to play all 50 snaps with the first-team offense against Rutgers, while Wypler also remained in for two more possessions to snap to McCord. Jones also remained in for seven snaps at left guard with the second-team offensive line before being replaced by Miller, who made his season debut after missing Ohio State’s first four games of the year.

The rest of the second-team offensive line consisted of Vimahi at left tackle, Fryar at right tackle and Jackson at right guard; each of them were in for all of Ohio State’s final 18 offensive snaps, while Jackson also played two snaps at tight end in jumbo packages with the first-team offense. Wilson played Ohio State’s final two possessions of the game at center.

Defensive Ends

J.T. Tuimoloau: 41
Zach Harrison: 36
Jack Sawyer: 34
Cormontae Hamilton: 19
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 14

Tuimoloau started opposite Harrison for the second week in a row and saw playing time in both halves to play the most snaps among all Ohio State defensive ends against Rutgers. Fellow five-star freshman Sawyer also saw extended playing time in both halves for the second week in a row as his role within the defensive end rotation continues to grow.

Jean-Baptiste returned to the rotation against Rutgers after missing the Akron game but played the fewest snaps among the five defensive ends who traveled to Piscataway. Hamilton, who made his season debut against Akron, played double-digit snaps in the rotation for the second week in a row with Tyreke Smith sidelined by injury.

Defensive Tackles

Ty Hamilton: 32
Tyleik Williams: 22
Haskell Garrett: 21
Jaden McKenzie: 18
Antwuan Jackson: 17
Taron Vincent: 17
Jerron Cage: 16

Garrett and Jackson started the game for the Buckeyes, but both played their lowest snap counts of the season to date as Ohio State rotated seven defensive tackles in and out of the lineup over the course of the game.

Cage was the second nose tackle to enter the game after Jackson, but Hamilton ended up playing the most snaps at nose tackle – and the highest snap count of his Ohio State career to date – as he saw substantial playing time in both halves. Williams, who’s emerged as a disruptive force off the bench over the past three games, played the second-most snaps among defensive tackles over the course of the game.

Vincent, who was a starter for Ohio State’s first three games of the season, returned to the rotation after missing the Akron game with an undisclosed injury but tied with Jackson for the second-fewest snaps among defensive tackles. McKenzie, who didn’t play at all in Ohio State’s first three games of the year, saw extended playing time in the second half for the second week in a row.

Linebackers

Teradja Mitchell: 37
Cody Simon: 36
Ryan Batsch: 24
Cade Kacherski: 21
Steele Chambers: 11
Tommy Eichenberg: 11
Reid Carrico: 4

Simon started alongside Mitchell for the second game in a row and they played most of Ohio State’s linebacker snaps through the Buckeyes’ opening defensive series of the third quarter, though Simon did not finish that series after appearing to aggravate the shoulder injury that also knocked him out of the Akron game early.

Eichenberg, who started Ohio State’s first three games of the season, played his smallest snap count of the year against Rutgers – though that didn’t stop from making his first career interception after replacing Simon in the lineup. Chambers, one week removed from playing 32 snaps against Akron, also played just 11 snaps against the Scarlet Knights.

With only five scholarship linebackers available to play, as Palaie Gaoteote was held out of Saturday’s game after being listed as a game-time decision on the pregame status report, walk-ons Batsch and Kacherski played nearly all of the snaps at linebacker in the fourth quarter, though Carrico also got in for four snaps.

Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 43
Sevyn Banks: 35
Ryan Watts: 16
Lejond Cavazos: 14
Demario McCall: 14
Jordan Hancock: 12
Cameron Brown: 10

Banks started his second game in a row at outside cornerback as Brown came off the bench and played just 10 snaps after missing the Akron game due to injury. Burke started and played the most snaps of any cornerback for a fifth game in a row to start the season.

Watts, Cavazos, McCall and Hancock all played their snaps in the third and fourth quarter after the starting defenders came out of the game.

Denzel Burke remained Ohio State’s No. 1 cornerback against Rutgers and returned his first career interception for a touchdown.

Safeties

Ronnie Hickman: 44
Cameron Martinez: 33
Kourt Williams: 28
Bryson Shaw: 27
Craig Young: 25
Marcus Hooker: 24
Lathan Ransom: 22
Marcus Williamson: 15
Jantzen Dunn: Special teams only

Hickman played the most defensive snaps of any Buckeye against Rutgers and led Ohio State with 11 total tackles from his bullet position. Williams finished out the game at bullet for Rutgers’ four final possessions after Ohio State took its starters out of the game.

Martinez made his second consecutive start at cover safety, though Williamson also rotated in for some snaps with the first-team defense as well. Young, who began the season as Hickman’s backup at bullet, finished out the game at the cover safety spot.

Shaw made his fourth consecutive start at free safety, but Ransom rotated with Shaw with the first-team defense for the second week in a row while Hooker finished out the game at free safety with the backup defense.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Noah Ruggles (kicker): 8
Jesse Mirco (holder): 8
Bradley Robinson (long snapper): 8
Mitch Rossi (wing): 8
Matt Jones (end): 8
Josh Fryar (tackle/guard): 8
Donovan Jackson (guard): 8
Paris Johnson Jr. (tackle): 8
Enokk Vimahi (end): 8
Cade Stover (wing): 8
Dawand Jones (guard): 7
Nicholas Petit-Frere (tackle): 1

The only change to Ohio State’s place-kicking unit came on Ruggles’ final extra point attempt of the day, when Petit-Frere replaced Jones in the lineup – after replacing him on offense at right tackle – and Fryar slid inside from tackle to guard. Otherwise, the Buckeyes used the same players on Ruggles’ lone field goal and all six of his extra points as they did in their previous games this season.

Kickoffs

Noah Ruggles (kicker): 9
Chris Booker: 9
Marcus Hooker: 9
Xavier Johnson: 9
Cade Kacherski: 9
Cade Stover: 9
Ryan Watts: 9
Demario McCall: 7
Kourt Williams: 7
Marcus Williamson: 6
Teradja Mitchell: 5
Emeka Egbuka: 4
Cameron Martinez: 3
Jantzen Dunn: 2
Ronnie Hickman: 2

Booker, Hooker, Johnson, Kacherski, Stover and Watts, who have been regulars on the kickoff coverage unit all year, were all on the field for all nine of Ruggles’ kickoffs against Rutgers.

Dunn and Hickman were both on the field for Ruggles’ first two kickoffs before being replaced by McCall and Williams; Dunn was injured on the Buckeyes’ second kickoff and did not return to the game. Mitchell and Egbuka split snaps on the kickoff coverage unit, as did Williamson and Martinez.

Kickoff Returns

Emeka Egbuka (returner): 3
Chris Booker: 3
Steele Chambers: 3
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 3
Xavier Johnson: 3
Cade Kacherski: 3
Mitch Rossi: 3
Cade Stover: 3
Ryan Watts: 3
Marcus Williamson: 3
Craig Young: 3

Ohio State made no changes to its kickoff return unit from the Akron game. Egbuka did not return any of Rutgers’ three kickoffs.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 3
Bradley Robinson (long snapper): 3
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 3
Mitch Rossi (upback): 3
Steele Chambers (guard): 3
Cade Kacherski (guard): 3
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 3
Lathan Ransom (tackle): 3
Chris Booker (gunner): 3
Cameron Brown (gunner): 3
Cade Stover (wing): 2
Jeremy Ruckert (wing): 1

Brown replaced Chris Olave, who was already done for the day by the time Mirco took the field for his first punt late in the third quarter, as one of Ohio State’s punt gunners. Stover replaced Ruckert for the Buckeyes’ final two punts in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, Ohio State utilized the same players on its punting unit against Rutgers as it did against Akron.

Punt Blocks/Returns

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (returner): 5
Garrett Wilson (returner): 5
Denzel Burke: 5
Cameron Martinez: 5
Chris Booker: 3
Steele Chambers: 3
Jordan Hancock: 3
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 3
Xavier Johnson: 3
Ryan Watts: 3
Kourt Williams: 3
Ty Hamilton: 2
Sevyn Banks: 1
Cameron Brown: 1
Tommy Eichenberg: 1
Haskell Garrett: 1
Zach Harrison: 1
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 1
Teradja Mitchell: 1
Lathan Ransom: 1
Jack Sawyer: 1
Cody Simon: 1
J.T. Tuimoloau: 1
Taron Vincent: 1

Wilson and Smith-Njigba were both on the field as dual returners for all five of Rutgers’ punts. The rest of Ohio State’s standard punt block/return unit, which the Buckeyes used on three of the Scarlet Knights’ five punts, consisted of Booker, Burke, Chambers, Hancock, Harrison, Johnson, Martinez, Watts and Williams – all of whom were also on the unit against Akron except Harrison and Watts, who (along with Smith-Njigba) replaced Ransom, Marcus Hooker and Craig Young.

The Buckeyes kept their defense on the field to play punt safe for Rutgers’ other two punts, which proved to be the right call on Rutgers’ first punt of the day, as the Scarlet Knights attempted a fake punt pass which Martinez knocked down.

Extra Point Block

J.T. Tuimoloau: 2
Sevyn Banks: 1
Ryan Batsch: 1
Cameron Brown: 1
Reid Carrico: 1
Lejond Cavazos: 1
Steele Chambers: 1
Tommy Eichenberg: 1
Haskell Garrett: 1
Cormontae Hamilton: 1
Ty Hamilton: 1
Zach Harrison: 1
Ronnie Hickman: 1
Marcus Hooker: 1
Antwuan Jackson: 1
Cameron Martinez: 1
Jaden McKenzie: 1
Lathan Ransom: 1
Ryan Watts: 1
Kourt Williams: 1
Craig Young: 1

Because Ohio State typically keeps its defensive players on the field for extra point blocks and nearly all of the Buckeyes’ defensive starters were out of the game by the time Rutgers scored its second touchdown, the group of players on the field was almost entirely different for each of Rutgers’ two extra points with the exception of Tuimoloau.

Garrett became the first Ohio State player to block a kick this season when he blocked Rutgers’ first extra point attempt of the day.