Snap Counts: Season-Low 53 Ohio State Players See Game Action in Buckeyes’ Rivalry Game Loss to Michigan

With a season-high 19 players unavailable, the Buckeyes didn’t have as much depth available as usual. Multiple players who weren’t listed as unavailable but had missed time in previous games didn’t play against the Wolverines either. And while there have been plenty of times this season that Ohio State has been able to play its backups in the second half, the Buckeyes had to play the players who they felt gave them the best chance to win for four quarters in The Game.

Despite struggling to both run the ball and stop the run against the Wolverines, Ohio State rarely used multi-tight end sets in Ann Arbor while the defense remained in a 4-2-5 formation for nearly every play of the game. Only three actual linebackers played snaps against Michigan while the Buckeyes’ starting cornerbacks and two of their starting safeties were all on the field for all but one defensive play.

All of that resulted in a season-low 53 Buckeyes seeing the field – four fewer than their previous season-low of 57 Buckeyes who played against Oregon, Penn State and Nebraska – in a game that Ohio State trailed for most of the way and ultimately lost by 15 points, 42-27, for its first loss to its northern rivals since 2011.

We take a closer look below at exactly how many snaps each of those 53 Buckeyes played in the final Snap Counts of the regular season. Offensive and defensive snap counts were provided by Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics, while special teams snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge.

Quarterbacks

C.J. Stroud: 81

Although he disclosed after the game that he had been “sick all week,” Stroud played all 81 of Ohio State’s offensive snaps at quarterback and attempted passes on 49 of them, completing 34 of those passes for 394 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the seventh time this season that Stroud has played every offensive snap of a game, and the third-most snaps he’s played in any game this year, behind the 88 snaps he played against Nebraska and the 86 snaps he played against Oregon.

Running Backs

TreVeyon Henderson: 62
Miyan Williams: 19

Ohio State leaned mostly on Henderson at running back in Ann Arbor, where he played his second-highest snap count of the season and was on the field for all but 19 of Ohio State’s offensive plays. He touched the ball on 22 of his 62 snaps in the game as he ran the ball 17 times for 74 yards and a touchdown while he also caught five passes for 54 yards and a touchdown.

With Master Teague unavailable for the fourth time in six games, Williams played each of the other 19 snaps at running back and had seven carries for 20 yards as well as one catch for six yards.

Wide Receivers

Chris Olave: 80
Garrett Wilson: 79
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 77
Julian Fleming: 1
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 1
Chris Booker: Special teams only
Xavier Johnson: Special teams only

After mixing in Fleming and Harrison for some snaps with the first-team offense in the previous three games, Ohio State relied almost exclusively on the starting wide receiver trio of Olave, Wilson and Smith-Njigba against Michigan. Olave was on the field for all but one offensive play, Wilson was on the field for all but two and Smith-Njigba was on the field for all but four as Fleming and Harrison each got in the game for just one offensive play each.

The starting three receivers were targeted a combined 41 times on Stroud’s 49 passing attempts as Smith-Njigba caught 11 passes for 127 yards, Wilson caught 10 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown and Olave caught seven passes for 88 yards.

Tight Ends

Jeremy Ruckert: 75
Cade Stover: 6
Mitch Rossi: 4
Joe Royer: Special teams only

The multi-tight end formations that have been mixed into the offense regularly in just about all of Ohio State’s other games this season were rarely utilized against Michigan. Even so, Ruckert tied his second-highest snap count of the season as he was on the field for all but six of Ohio State’s offensive plays. Stover played a season-low six snaps at tight end – though he also played one defensive snap (scroll down to the Linebackers section for more on that) – while Rossi tied his season-low by playing just four snaps.

Offensive Linemen

Nicholas Petit-Frere: 81
Thayer Munford: 81
Luke Wypler: 81
Paris Johnson Jr.: 71
Dawand Jones: 53
Matt Jones: 38
Donovan Jackson: 1
Josh Fryar: Special teams only
Jakob James: Special teams only

Ohio State started the game with the same primary offensive line it’s been using all season – Petit-Frere at left tackle, Munford at left guard, Wypler at center, Johnson at right guard and Dawand Jones at right tackle – but moved Munford to left tackle and Petit-Frere to right tackle while Matt Jones entered the game at left guard after Dawand Jones exited the game with an apparent injury in the third quarter and did not return. Matt Jones also played 10 snaps at right guard in place of Johnson earlier in the game.

Jackson played one snap as a sixth offensive lineman, marking the seventh time this season he’s been utilized in that capacity with the first-team offense.

Defensive Ends

Zach Harrison: 48
Tyreke Smith: 27
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 25
J.T. Tuimoloau: 22
Jack Sawyer: 4
Cormontae Hamilton: Special teams only

Smith made his fifth consecutive start opposite Harrison but played his second-lowest snap count of the season (excluding games he missed due to injury) as Jean-Baptiste and Tuimoloau each played nearly as many snaps as Smith, with Tuimoloau tying his highest snap count for the second half of the season. Harrison was the only Ohio State defensive end who was on the field for more than half of the Buckeyes’ 63 defensive plays against Michigan.

Sawyer got on the field for just four snaps, the fewest snaps he’s played in a game since the first two games of the year.

Defensive Tackles

Haskell Garrett: 35
Jerron Cage: 28
Taron Vincent: 28
Ty Hamilton: 20
Antwuan Jackson: 15
Tyleik Williams: 2

Although he didn’t start the game, Garrett played the most snaps among defensive tackles and the second-most snaps he’s played in a game since the first three games of the year. Garrett and Vincent played nearly all of the snaps at 3-technique against Michigan as Williams got on the field for just two plays, the fewest snaps he’s played in any game since he did not play in the season opener.

Cage started the game alongside Vincent and tied his season-high snap count as he led all nose tackles by playing 28 snaps against the Wolverines. Jackson, who started seven of Ohio State’s first 11 games at nose tackle, played his second-lowest snap count of the season in The Game as Hamilton played the second-most snaps among nose tackles.

Linebackers

Steele Chambers: 60
Cody Simon: 49
Tommy Eichenberg: 18
Cade Stover: 1

With Palaie Gaoteote unavailable while Teradja Mitchell also did not play, only three actual linebackers saw playing time for Ohio State against Michigan. Chambers started at Will linebacker and was on the field for all but three of the Buckeyes’ defensive plays, while Simon started at Mike linebacker and played his third-highest snap count of the season. Eichenberg, the only linebacker in the base defense’s rotation, played his second-lowest snap count of the season off the bench.

Stover, who was originally recruited to Ohio State as a linebacker, played one snap at Sam linebacker as part of a goal-line package for the Buckeyes. That play didn’t go particularly well for Stover, however, as he was blocked into the ground by Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker as Hassan Haskins ran for a 1-yard touchdown.

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Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 62
Cameron Brown: 62
Lejond Cavazos: Special teams only
Jordan Hancock: Special teams only
Ryan Watts: Special teams only

With Sevyn Banks unavailable for a second straight week, Ohio State didn’t rotate at all at cornerback against Michigan. Brown and Burke were both on the field for every defensive play with the exception of the aforementioned goal-line play, on which the Buckeyes didn’t have any defensive backs on the field.

Safeties

Ronnie Hickman: 62
Bryson Shaw: 62
Marcus Williamson: 30
Lathan Ransom: 26
Craig Young: 6
Kourt Williams: 1
Cameron Martinez: Special teams only

Like Burke and Brown, Hickman and Shaw were on the field for every defensive snap except for the one play where the Buckeyes put their goal-line defense in the game – which featured Williams playing his only defensive snap of the game as a linebacker on the edge of the defensive line, but none of Ohio State’s starting defensive backs.

Williamson started the game at cover safety and played just under half of Ohio State’s defensive snaps as he split playing time with Ransom as well as Young, who reprised his hybrid safety/linebacker role for a second consecutive week, though he was only on the field for six plays against Michigan after playing 24 snaps against Michigan State.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Noah Ruggles (kicker): 5
Jesse Mirco (holder): 5
Bradley Robinson (long snapper): 5
Mitch Rossi (wing): 5
Matt Jones (end): 5
Josh Fryar (tackle): 5
Dawand Jones (guard): 5
Donovan Jackson (guard): 5
Paris Johnson Jr. (tackle): 5
Jakob James (end): 5
Cade Stover (wing): 5

Ohio State made no changes to its field goal unit from previous games against Michigan. Although Fryar appeared to suffer a leg injury during pregame warmups, he was able to reprise his usual role on the field goal team, on which Ruggles made a pair of field goals from 30 and 31 yards out as well as all three of his extra point attempts.

Kickoffs

Noah Ruggles (kicker): 6
Chris Booker: 6
Tommy Eichenberg: 6
Julian Fleming: 6
Jordan Hancock: 6
Xavier Johnson: 6
Cade Stover: 6
Ryan Watts: 6
Craig Young: 6
Cameron Martinez: 4
Kourt Williams: 4
Lathan Ransom: 2
Marcus Williamson: 2

Eichenberg, Fleming and Hancock all joined the starting kickoff coverage unit against Michigan, replacing Cade Kacherski, Demario McCall and Teradja Mitchell. Williamson and Ransom started the game on the kickoff coverage unit but split snaps with Martinez and Williams, who both ended up playing in place of Ransom and Williamson on four of Ohio State’s six kickoffs.

Kickoff Returns

Julian Fleming (returner): 7
Chris Booker: 7
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 7
Xavier Johnson: 7
Mitch Rossi: 7
Cade Stover: 7
Ryan Watts: 7
Kourt Williams: 7
Craig Young: 7
Steele Chambers: 5
Joe Royer: 4
Marcus Williamson: 3
Miyan Williams: 2

Ohio State used the same starting kickoff return team against Michigan as it did against Michigan State with the exception of Cade Kacherski, who was replaced by Kourt Williams. Fleming handled kickoff return duties for the second week in a row in place of Emeka Egbuka, who did not play against Michigan after he was unavailable for the Michigan State game. His lone kickoff return of the game for positive yardage went for 11 yards.

Royer replaced Williamson on Michigan’s final four kickoffs of the game while Miyan Williams took Chambers’ place on the return unit for two of Michigan’s seven kickoffs.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 4
Bradley Robinson (long snapper): 4
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 4
Mitch Rossi (upback): 4
Steele Chambers (guard): 4
Cody Simon (guard): 4
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 4
Lathan Ransom (tackle): 4
Jeremy Ruckert (wing): 4
Chris Olave (gunner): 4
Chris Booker (gunner): 3
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (gunner): 1

With Cade Kacherski unavailable due to injury, Simon took his place as a guard on the punting unit. The rest of the punting unit for The Game, in which Mirco averaged 44.8 yards per punt with two punts downed inside the 20-yard line, remained the same as previous games, with Smith-Njigba replacing Booker at gunner for one of Mirco’s four punts.

Punt Blocks/Returns

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (returner): 2
Cameron Brown: 2
Chris Booker: 1
Denzel Burke: 1
Jerron Cage: 1
Lejond Cavazos: 1
Steele Chambers: 1
Cormontae Hamilton: 1
Jordan Hancock: 1
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 1
Zach Harrison: 1
Ronnie Hickman: 1
Xavier Johnson: 1
Joe Royer: 1
Bryson Shaw: 1
Cody Simon: 1
Taron Vincent: 1
Ryan Watts: 1
Marcus Williamson: 1
Craig Young: 1

Ohio State only forced Michigan to punt twice on Saturday, both early in the second quarter. The Buckeyes kept their defense on the field for the first punt, so the only Buckeyes on the field for both Michigan punts were Brown and Smith-Njigba. Brown, Royer, Shaw and Watts replaced Cade Kacherski, Cameron Martinez, Demario McCall and Sam Wiglusz on the punt block unit from the Michigan State game.

Extra Point Block

Denzel Burke: 6
Steele Chambers: 6
Zach Harrison: 6
Ronnie Hickman: 6
Bryson Shaw: 6
Haskell Garrett: 5
Cody Simon: 5
J.T. Tuimoloau: 5
Cameron Brown: 4
Antwuan Jackson: 4
Lathan Ransom: 4
Jack Sawyer: 2
Marcus Williamson: 2
Lejond Cavazos: 1
Tommy Eichenberg: 1
Ty Hamilton: 1
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 1
Taron Vincent: 1

As five of the seven defenders who played the most snaps against Michigan, Burke, Chambers, Harrison, Hickman and Shaw were all on the field for all six of the Wolverines’ extra points after their touchdowns. Eighteen different defenders were on the field for at least one of Michigan’s six extra points, which all came after rushing touchdowns.