Snap Counts: Chip Trayanum, Gee Scott Jr. Play Expanded Roles As Ohio State Starters Play Four Quarters Against Maryland

Running back Chip Trayanum and tight end Gee Scott Jr. both made their first career starts against Maryland and played career-high snap counts as Buckeyes as a result of their increased roles. Defensive end JT Tuimoloau, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams and nickel cornerback Jordan Hancock all played career-high snap counts on the defensive side of the ball as they were on the field for a majority of the Terrapins’ 77 offensive plays.

As the Buckeyes led by only three points entering the fourth quarter, nearly half of their starters – including quarterback Kyle McCord, all five starting offensive linemen, both of its outside cornerbacks and both of its deep safeties – played every play of the game on either offense or defense. The Buckeyes eventually pulled away to win the game 37-17, but only 51 total players – just two more than in Ohio State’s last-second win over Notre Dame – saw action against the Terrapins.

Seventeen Buckeyes saw playing time on offense and 19 Buckeyes saw action on defense – with Caden Curry playing snaps on both sides of the ball for the second game in a row – while 16 Buckeyes played on special teams only.

Buckeyes who played against Maryland that didn’t play against Notre Dame were wide receiver Brandon Inniss, offensive lineman Victor Cutler Jr., defensive ends Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Mitchell Melton, cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. and safety Malik Hartford. Buckeyes who played at Notre Dame that didn’t play against Maryland were running back TreVeyon Henderson (who was held out of the game due to injury), tight end Joe Royer, offensive lineman Luke Montgomery and cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr.

Our full report on how many snaps each Buckeye played against Maryland can be found below. Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics were used to compile offensive and defensive snap counts (with adjustments made for discrepancies we found on film), while special teams snap counts were tracked by Eleven Warriors researcher Matt Gutridge. All snap counts should be considered unofficial as they were not provided by Ohio State.

Quarterbacks

Kyle McCord: 63

McCord played every snap at quarterback for the second game in a row. He attempted passes on just under half of those snaps, completing 19 of his 29 throws for 320 yards and two touchdowns.

Running Backs

Chip Trayanum: 50
Miyan Williams: 15

Trayanum played the most snaps he has played in any game as a Buckeye so far as he made his first career start in place of TreVeyon Henderson and was on the field for all but 13 of Ohio State’s offensive plays. Williams was the running back for Ohio State’s opening drive of the second quarter and its final two possessions of the game.

Trayanum and Williams were both on the field together for a pair of plays; one was a red zone play late in the first half that resulted in Trayanum running for a 1-yard loss, and the other was the Buckeyes’ game-ending victory formation.

Fullbacks

Caden Curry: 1

Just as he did against Notre Dame, Curry entered the game for one snap as a blocking fullback. Trayanum ran for a successful 4th-and-1 conversion on Curry’s only play in the game on offense, which came in the third quarter.

Wide Receivers

Marvin Harrison Jr.: 53
Julian Fleming: 38
Emeka Egbuka: 33
Xavier Johnson: 15
Jayden Ballard: 9
Carnell Tate: 9
David Adolph: Special teams only
Brandon Inniss: Special teams only

Despite spraining his ankle against Notre Dame, Harrison was on the field for all but one offensive play until Ohio State’s final two possessions of the game and led the Buckeyes with eight catches for 163 yards and a touchdown.

Egbuka did not start for the first time since he was a freshman as Ohio State opened the game in a two-tight end formation with Harrison and Fleming as the only receivers on the field. Egbuka ended up playing only 33 snaps as he played only one snap in the fourth quarter before leaving the game with a lower-body injury that he suffered while being tackled on the sideline on an 8-yard catch.

Johnson, who also played two situational snaps earlier in the game, finished out the day at slot receiver after Egbuka’s early exit. Tate and Ballard replaced Harrison and Fleming as the outside receivers for the offense’s final two possessions of the game.

RELATED Ohio State vs. Maryland Notebook: Marvin Harrison Jr. Shines Despite Injured Ankle, TreVeyon Henderson Expected to Return Against Purdue, Emeka Egbuka’s Injury “Doesn't Seem Like Anything Major”

Tight Ends

Cade Stover: 55
Gee Scott Jr.: 37

Scott played a career-high 37 snaps against Maryland as the Buckeyes had both Stover and Scott on the field for 29 of their 63 offensive plays vs. the Terrapins. Stover continued to play through the game’s final possession as he topped 50 snaps for the third time in five games this year.

Offensive Linemen

Josh Simmons: 63
Donovan Jackson: 63
Carson Hinzman: 63
Matt Jones: 63
Josh Fryar: 63
Victor Cutler Jr.: Special teams only
Jakob James: Special teams only
Zen Michalski: Special teams only
Tegra Tshabola: Special teams only
Enokk Vimahi: Special teams only

Ohio State’s five starting offensive linemen were on the field for every offensive snap for the fourth time in five games this year. While Luke Montgomery also saw playing time in each of Ohio State’s first four games as a sixth offensive lineman in the Buckeyes’ “Bison” package, the true freshman did not see any action against the Terrapins.

Defensive Ends

JT Tuimoloau: 69
Jack Sawyer: 53
Caden Curry: 16
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 13
Mitchell Melton: 3

Tuimoloau played a career-high snap count for the second game in a row – and had his best game of the season to date, recording his first 1.5 sacks of the year and making two fourth-down stops – as he was on the field for all but eight of Ohio State’s defensive snaps against Maryland.

Sawyer also topped 50 snaps for the second game in a row but subbed out more frequently than Tuimoloau. Curry and Jackson were worked back into the defensive end rotation against Maryland after Tuimoloau and Sawyer played every snap at DE against Notre Dame. Melton played his only three snaps of the day on Ohio State’s final defensive series.

Defensive Tackles

Tyleik Williams: 70
Mike Hall: 40
Ty Hamilton: 30
Jaden McKenzie: 6
Hero Kanu: 3

Williams set a new career-high in snaps for a fifth game in a row to begin the season as he was on the field for a whopping 70 plays against Maryland. McKenzie was the only other defensive tackle to see snaps at the 3-technique spot, as he mixed in to spell Williams in the second and third quarter.

Hall tied his career-high by playing 40 defensive snaps as Ohio State’s starting 1-technique defensive tackle against Maryland. Hamilton, whose total snaps had been within three of Hall for the first four games of the season, played 10 fewer snaps vs. the Terrapins. Kanu saw his only playing time of the game alongside Williams on Maryland’s final three-play possession.

Tyleik Williams was on the field for all but seven of Ohio State’s 77 defensive plays against Maryland.

Linebackers

Tommy Eichenberg: 74
Steele Chambers: 59
Cody Simon: 21
Reid Carrico: Special teams only
C.J. Hicks: Special teams only
Gabe Powers: Special teams only

Ohio State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jim Knowles said the Buckeyes had “to find ways to get (Simon) more snaps” in an appearance on The Ryan Day Show during Ohio State’s bye week, and Knowles was a man of his word as Simon played a season-high 21 snaps against Maryland. Simon rotated in for Chambers at Will linebacker on multiple series over the course of the game, while he took Eichenberg’s place at Mike linebacker for Maryland’s final possession.

Eichenberg still played a season-high 74 snaps – and recorded a season-high 13 tackles – as he was on the field for every play of Maryland’s first 12 possessions.

Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 77
Davison Igbinosun: 77
Jordan Hancock: 53
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: Special teams only

Burke and Igbinosun manned the outside cornerback spots for all 77 of Maryland’s offensive plays. The 77 defensive snaps were the most Igbinosun has played in a collegiate game while Burke tied the second-highest defensive snap count of his college career.

Hancock played a career-high 53 snaps as he replaced starting safety Sonny Styles at nickel for a majority of Ohio State’s defensive plays against Maryland, while Styles and Hancock were also on the field together for five plays in dime packages.

Safeties

Josh Proctor: 77
Lathan Ransom: 77
Sonny Styles: 29
Ja’Had Carter: Special teams only
Malik Hartford: Special teams only

Proctor and Ransom each played the second-highest defensive snap counts of their Ohio State careers as both of them were also on the field for all 77 of Maryland’s offensive plays. Styles made his fifth consecutive start to begin the year at nickel but played his second-lowest snap count of the season as he was often substituted out for Hancock against Maryland’s spread attack, giving the Buckeyes more of a true slot cornerback on the field to match up with the Terrapins’ three-receiver offense.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 7
Jesse Mirco (holder): 7
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 7
Enokk Vimahi (wing): 7
Josh Simmons (tackle): 7
Donovan Jackson (guard): 7
Tegra Tshabola (guard): 7
Josh Fryar (tackle): 7
Zen Michalski (end): 7
Cade Stover (wing): 7
Jakob James (end): 6
Victor Cutler Jr. (end): 1

Ohio State used the same 11 players on its placekicking unit for the third game in a row with the exception of Fielding’s final field goal attempt of the day, on which Cutler replaced James. Fielding remained perfect on the season as he made all three of his field goal attempts and all four of his extra point attempts against Maryland.

Kickoffs

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 8
Reid Carrico: 8
Xavier Johnson: 8
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 8
Gabe Powers: 8
Cody Simon: 8
Sonny Styles: 8
Denzel Burke: 7
Caden Curry: 7
Josh Proctor: 7
Chip Trayanum: 5
Ja’Had Carter: 3
Jayden Ballard: 1
C.J. Hicks: 1
Carnell Tate: 1

Mathews and Powers rejoined Ohio State’s starting kickoff coverage unit against Maryland, replacing Hicks and Lorenzo Styles Jr. from the Notre Dame game. Hicks returned to the coverage unit for Ohio State’s final kickoff of the day, replacing Curry, while Ballard replaced Proctor on the Buckeyes’ final kickoff and Tate also replaced Burke for one kickoff.

Kickoff Returns

Xavier Johnson (returner): 4
David Adolph: 4
Ja’Had Carter: 4
Caden Curry: 4
Julian Fleming: 4
C.J. Hicks: 4
Brandon Inniss: 4
Gee Scott Jr.: 4
Cody Simon: 4
Carnell Tate: 4
Chip Trayanum: 4

Inniss returned to the kickoff return unit against Maryland after he was replaced in that capacity by Styles Jr. – who has played in only two games so far this season as the Buckeyes preserve his redshirt eligibility – against Notre Dame. The rest of the kick return team remained unchanged from the one that took the field in South Bend.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 5
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 5
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 5
Cody Simon (upback): 5
Gee Scott Jr. (guard): 5
Sonny Styles (guard): 5
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 5
Chip Trayanum (tackle): 5
Cade Stover (wing): 5
Jayden Ballard (gunner): 5
Julian Fleming (gunner): 5

Ohio State made no changes to its punt team against Maryland from its previous three games. While the punt team took the field five times, Mirco only actually punted the ball four times as Ferlmann accidentally snapped the ball to Simon on his first snap of the day, resulting in a turnover on downs for the Buckeyes.

Punt Blocks/Returns

Lathan Ransom: 5
Emeka Egbuka (returner): 4
Reid Carrico: 4
Ja’Had Carter: 4
Jordan Hancock: 4
Malik Hartford: 4
C.J. Hicks: 4
Gabe Powers: 4
Gee Scott Jr.: 4
Carnell Tate: 4
Davison Igbinosun: 3
Jermaine Mathews: 2
Jayden Ballard (returner): 1
Denzel Burke: 1
Steele Chambers: 1
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 1
Hero Kanu: 1
Jaden McKenzie: 1
Mitchell Melton: 1
Josh Proctor: 1
Cody Simon: 1

Egbuka fielded Maryland’s first four punts of the game, but Ballard took his place for the Terps’ final punt after Egbuka suffered his injury. Ohio State kept its defense to play punt safe for that punt.

The punt block/return unit for Maryland’s first four punts consisted of the same players with the exception of Igbinosun and Mathews splitting snaps. Carrico, Hartford and Hicks rejoined the punt block unit against Maryland, replacing Xavier Johnson, Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Miyan Williams from the Notre Dame game.

Field Goal/Extra Point Block

Denzel Burke: 3
Steele Chambers: 3
Tommy Eichenberg: 3
Davison Igbinosun: 3
Josh Proctor: 3
Lathan Ransom: 3
Tyleik Williams: 3
Caden Curry: 2
Mike Hall Jr.: 2
Jordan Hancock: 2
Jack Sawyer: 2
JT Tuimoloau: 2
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 1
Sonny Styles: 1

Curry substituted into the game to join the kick-blocking unit for Maryland’s first extra point and only field goal attempt of the day, replacing Tuimoloau on the extra point and Hamilton on the field goal. Otherwise, the players on this unit consisted of the players who were on the field for the previous defensive play.