Snap Counts: Chip Trayanum, Josh Fryar Play Expanded Roles As 53 Buckeyes See Action in Loss to Michigan

As Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Tyler Friday, Tyleik Williams and Jerron Cage took the field for Ohio State’s final three defensive plays, Michigan was able to line up in victory formation and run out the clock. Frankly, it had become clear well before then that the Wolverines were going to beat the Buckeyes on Saturday, as Michigan outscored Ohio State 28-3 in the second half en route to a 45-23 final score for the maize and blue’s second straight win in The Game.

In the defining game of the season, Ohio State relied primarily on the players who had played the most snaps at each position throughout the year – with a couple of notable exceptions. Chip Trayanum, who had played only three offensive snaps as a Buckeye before The Game, led all running backs with 34 snaps against Michigan. Josh Fryar played 62 snaps off the bench at right guard, where Enokk Vimahi started the game in place of Matt Jones, who did not play due to injury.

A total of 53 Ohio State players saw action against Michigan, the same number who played in the previous game against Maryland. Trayanum, fellow running back Miyan Williams and reserve linebacker Teradja Mitchell were the only Buckeyes who played against the Wolverines that didn’t play against the Terrapins. At the same time, Jones, injured running back TreVeyon Henderson and freshman cornerback Jyaire Brown were the only Buckeyes who played against Maryland that didn’t play in the rivalry game.

Our full report on how many snaps each Buckeye played against Michigan is below. Offensive and defensive snap counts are courtesy of Pro Football Focus, while special teams snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge. All snap counts should be considered unofficial as they were not provided by Ohio State.

Quarterbacks

C.J. Stroud: 78

In what might have been his final game as a Buckeye, Stroud took a season-high 78 snaps as he played every snap at quarterback for the fifth time this season. He attempted passes on well over half of them, completing 31 of his 48 passing attempts for 349 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

Running Backs

Chip Trayanum: 34
Miyan Williams: 21
Dallan Hayden: 11

Williams started at running back against Michigan but played only 21 snaps after missing the Maryland game with an ankle injury. Trayanum, who played on offense for Ohio State for just the third time after a midseason position switch from linebacker, was the second running back to enter the game and ended up playing just under half of the snaps at RB while carrying the ball 14 times for 83 yards, both team-highs.

Hayden, who led all running backs with 43 snaps against Maryland, played only 11 snaps and ran the ball just twice for seven yards as the Buckeyes’ No. 3 running back against Michigan. Wide receiver Xavier Johnson also lined up at running back for 10 plays, with most of his snaps in the backfield coming late in the game when Ohio State needed to pass the ball to try to make a comeback.

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Wide Receivers

Emeka Egbuka: 77
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 76
Julian Fleming: 65
Xavier Johnson: 17
Jayden Ballard: Special teams only

All three starting wide receivers played career-high snap counts against Michigan, as Egbuka was on the field for all but one play, Harrison was on the field for all but two plays and Fleming was in the lineup for all but 13 of Ohio State’s offensive snaps. The Buckeyes only used multi-tight end packages sparingly against Michigan, and Johnson was the only non-starter to play any snaps at wide receiver in The Game.

Tight Ends

Cade Stover: 76
Mitch Rossi: 8
Gee Scott Jr.: 5
Joe Royer: Special teams only

Stover played a career-high snap count for the second week in a row, as he was on the field for all but two plays against Michigan. Rossi played his lowest snap count of the season as he got in the game for only single-digit offensive plays for the first time all year. Scott got in the game for five plays but did not play any more snaps on offense after he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for headbutting Michigan safety Rod Moore in the third quarter.

Offensive Linemen

Paris Johnson Jr.: 78
Donovan Jackson: 78
Luke Wypler: 78
Dawand Jones: 78
Josh Fryar: 62
Enokk Vimahi: 16
Jakob James: Special teams only
Zen Michalski: Special teams only

Vimahi started the game at right guard but was replaced by Fryar on Ohio State’s second possession. Vimahi returned to the game for just one more possession in the second quarter, after which Fryar handled right guard duties for the remainder of the game.

With Fryar and Vimahi both playing snaps at guard, Ohio State did not use its six-lineman “Bison” formation at all against Michigan, marking the first time all season the Buckeyes did not deploy that package for at least one play.

Defensive Ends

Zach Harrison: 54
JT Tuimoloau: 54
Jack Sawyer: 15
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 6
Tyler Friday: 3
Caden Curry: Special teams only

Harrison and Tuimoloau were on the field for all but eight defensive plays against Michigan as the Buckeyes continued to lean heavily on their top two defensive ends. Sawyer played a season-low 15 snaps, with most of his snaps coming as a Jack linebacker with Harrison and Tuimoloau also both on the field as the defensive ends in a three-man front.

Jean-Baptiste played single-digit snaps for the second week in a row, with half of his snaps coming on Michigan’s game-ending possession, while Friday played his only snaps of the game on the final three plays.

Defensive Tackles

Taron Vincent: 45
Ty Hamilton: 30
Tyleik Williams: 17
Mike Hall Jr.: 13
Jerron Cage: 8

Vincent played the most snaps among defensive tackles for the ninth time in 12 games, as he was on the field for all but 17 of Ohio State’s defensive plays against Michigan. Hamilton started and played the second-most snaps among Ohio State defensive tackles for a fourth consecutive game to end the regular season.

Williams and Hall continued to be the first defensive tackles off the bench, with many of their snaps coming in third-down pass-rushing situations, as Hall played fewer than 20 snaps for the fourth game in a row despite starting six of Ohio State’s first eight games. Cage played a season-low eight snaps as the Buckeyes’ No. 5 defensive tackle.

Linebackers

Steele Chambers: 62
Tommy Eichenberg: 62
Cody Simon: 17
Palaie Gaoteote IV: 6
C.J. Hicks: Special teams only
Teradja Mitchell: Special teams only

Chambers and Eichenberg both played every snap at linebacker for the second game in a row. Simon joined them on the field for 17 plays as a Sam linebacker. Gaotoete joined them for six plays in short-yardage and goal-line situations as a fourth linebacker, marking the sixth straight game in which he played defensive snaps after he played on defense in just one of Ohio State’s first six games. 

Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 59
JK Johnson: 33
Cameron Brown: 24
Jordan Hancock: Special teams only

Burke was on the field for all but three plays on which Ohio State did not have any cornerbacks on the field. Brown started the game opposite Burke but was replaced by Johnson for the remainder of the game after he was injured while hitting J.J. McCarthy at the end of a run on Michigan’s final possession of the first half.

Safeties

Ronnie Hickman: 62
Lathan Ransom: 62
Tanner McCalister: 44
Cameron Martinez: 4
Sonny Styles: 2
Josh Proctor: Special teams only
Kye Stokes: Special teams only

Hickman and Ransom both played every snap of the game, as Ohio State did not rotate at either of its two primary safety spots against Michigan.

McCalister was on the field for all but 18 snaps at nickel safety, coming out of the game when Simon entered as a third linebacker. He was also replaced on one play in the base defense by Martinez, which resulted in Cornelius Johnson beating Martinez for a 75-yard touchdown catch. Ohio State brought Martinez into the game for three additional plays as a sixth defensive back, while Styles entered the game as an extra box safety on one short-yardage play and one goal-line play.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Noah Ruggles (kicker): 5
Jesse Mirco (holder): 5
Mason Arnold (long snapper): 5
Caden Curry (wing): 5
Zen Michalski (end): 5
Paris Johnson Jr. (tackle): 5
Donovan Jackson (guard): 5
Enokk Vimahi (guard): 5
Dawand Jones (tackle): 5
Jakob James (end): 5
Cade Stover (wing): 5

Dawand Jones returned to Ohio State’s field goal unit against Michigan after being replaced by Josh Fryar for the previous two games. Ruggles made all three of his field goal attempts and two extra points against the Wolverines.

Kickoffs

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 6
Caden Curry: 6
Palaie Gaoteote IV: 6
Xavier Johnson: 6
Tanner McCalister: 6
Teradja Mitchell: 6
Josh Proctor: 6
Cody Simon: 6
Sonny Styles: 6
JK Johnson: 5
Ronnie Hickman: 4
Cameron Martinez: 2
Kye Stokes: 1

Mitchell replaced C.J. Hicks on Ohio State’s kickoff coverage team after Hicks was injured on Ohio State’s opening kickoff return of the game. The rest of Ohio State’s starting kickoff unit remained the same from the Maryland game, with Martinez replacing Hickman on two of Fielding’s final three kickoffs and Stokes replacing Johnson on the Buckeyes’ final kickoff.

Kickoff Returns

Xavier Johnson (returner): 8
Jayden Ballard: 8
Steele Chambers: 8
Palaie Gaoteote IV: 8
Cameron Martinez: 8
Mitch Rossi: 8
Gee Scott Jr.: 8
Cody Simon: 8
Sonny Styles: 8
Tanner McCalister: 7
Chip Trayanum: 5 
Dallan Hayden: 3
C.J. Hicks: 1

Trayanum returned to Ohio State’s kickoff return team after missing two games, though Hayden replaced him for Michigan’s final three kickoffs. McCalister took Hicks’ place on the return unit after the game’s opening kickoff. Johnson returned four of Michigan’s eight kickoffs for a total of 76 yards.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 5
Mason Arnold (long snapper): 5
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 5
Mitch Rossi (upback): 5
Steele Chambers (guard): 5
Cody Simon (guard): 5
Emeka Egbuka (tackle): 5
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 5
Cade Stover (wing): 5
Jayden Ballard (gunner): 4
Josh Proctor (gunner): 3
Marvin Harrison Jr. (gunner): 2
Julian Fleming (gunner): 1

Ohio State utilized the same starting 11 on its punting unit against Michigan as it did in its previous two games. Ballard and Proctor were the gunners for both of Mirco’s second-quarter punts and his fourth-quarter punt, but Harrison replaced Proctor on both third-quarter punts. At the same time, Fleming also replaced Ballard for one third-quarter punt – a punt that appeared as though it was actually supposed to be a fake punt run by Mitch Rossi before Arnold snapped the ball to Mirco instead.

Punt Blocks/Returns

Emeka Egbuka (returner): 5
Lathan Ransom: 5
Caden Curry: 4
Palaie Gaoteote IV: 4
Jordan Hancock: 4
JK Johnson: 4
Xavier Johnson: 4
Josh Proctor: 4
Joe Royer: 4
Gee Scott Jr.: 4
Sonny Styles: 4
Cameron Brown: 1
Denzel Burke: 1
Steele Chambers: 1
Tommy Eichenberg: 1
Ty Hamilton: 1
Zach Harrison: 1
Ronnie Hickman: 1
JT Tuimoloau: 1
Taron Vincent: 1

With the exception of one second-quarter punt on which Ohio State kept its defense on the field to prepare for the possibility of a fake, Ohio State utilized the same 11 players on each of Michigan’s other four punts. Proctor took Hicks’ place, but the rest of those players were the same who made up the primary punt block unit against Maryland.

Extra Point Block

Denzel Burke: 8
Steele Chambers: 8
Tommy Eichenberg: 8
Ronnie Hickman: 8
Lathan Ransom: 8
Sonny Styles: 8
Zach Harrison: 6
JT Tuimoloau: 6
JK Johnson: 5
Taron Vincent: 5
Cameron Brown: 3
Jerron Cage: 3
Ty Hamilton: 3
Jack Sawyer: 3
Tyleik Williams: 3
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 2
Mike Hall Jr.: 1

As has been the case for most of the season, Styles was on the field for every opposing field goal and extra point attempt, while the rest of the players on the field consisted of players who had already been in the game on defense.