Snap Counts: 58 Ohio State Players Take the Field Against Northwestern in Big Ten Championship Game

It might feel like longer now with everything that’s happened since, but Ohio State played a game – and won a Big Ten championship – last weekend.

A total of 58 players took the field for the Buckeyes last Saturday in Indianapolis, where Ohio State defeated Northwestern 45-24 to win its second consecutive conference title.

With Urban Meyer suddenly announcing his retirement on Tuesday morning, it’s a little late, but we still took a look back at last weekend’s Big Ten Championship Game to see which Buckeyes played and how much they played against Northwestern.

That look follows in this week’s edition of Snap Counts.

All snap counts listed were compiled by Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge and should be considered unofficial, as Ohio State does not make its official snap counts public. It is not always possible to see all 11 players on the field from TV broadcast angles, particularly on special teams plays, so exact special teams snap counts are not included and offensive and defensive snap counts could potentially differ from those tracked by Ohio State’s coaches.

Quarterbacks

Dwayne Haskins: 89

Although Urban Meyer said prior to the Big Ten Championship Game that he wanted Tate Martell to continue to have a role in Ohio State’s offense, Martell never saw the field against Northwestern. There was certainly no reason to take Haskins off the field, as he completed 34 of 41 passes for a school-record 499 yards and five touchdowns against the Wildcats, putting an exclamation point on his candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.

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Running Backs

J.K. Dobbins: 58
Mike Weber: 31
Demario McCall: 2

Dobbins saw the majority of the work in Ohio State’s two-back rotation against Northwestern, seeing nearly twice as much playing time as Weber for his second-highest snap count of the season. Even so, they ended up carrying the ball the same number of times, with both getting 17 rushing attempts.

McCall also checked into the game at running back for a pair of third-down passing plays, catching a pass for eight yards on one of those plays.

J.K. Dobbins got the majority of playing time at running back against Northwestern.

Wide Receivers

Johnnie Dixon: 63
K.J. Hill: 59
Terry McLaurin: 48
Binjimen Victor: 39
Parris Campbell: 36
Chris Olave: 24
Ellijah Gardiner: Special teams only
C.J. Saunders: Special teams only

Dixon led Ohio State’s receivers in snaps played for the fifth game in a row, as he continued to play the bulk of snaps at the Z receiver position, and led the Buckeyes with seven catches for 129 yards – including a touchdown – in the process. Olave, for the fifth game in a row, played the least snaps in Ohio State’s six-man rotation, but he made the most of the reps he got, catching five passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.

In a change from previous weeks, Hill played substantially more snaps in the slot than Campbell, though they were on the field together for eight four-receiver sets.

McLaurin and Victor continued to split snaps at X receiver against Northwestern, with McLaurin playing that position for the fifth straight game since Austin Mack left the Purdue game with a foot injury.

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Tight Ends

Luke Farrell: 57
Rashod Berry: 25
Jeremy Ruckert: 3
Jake Hausmann: Special teams only

Farrell played more than 50 snaps for the sixth game in a row as the Buckeyes’ starting tight end, but Berry played more snaps than he had in any of the Buckeyes’ previous five games. Ruckert did not see the field on offense until the Buckeyes’ final three-play drive of the game.

Offensive Linemen

Thayer Munford: 89
Malcolm Pridgeon: 89
Michael Jordan: 89
Wyatt Davis: 89
Isaiah Prince: 89
Joshua Alabi: Special teams only
Gavin Cupp: Special teams only
Josh Myers: Special teams only
Kevin Woidke: Special teams only

Davis made his first career start in the Big Ten Championship Game in place of injured Demetrius Knox at right guard, and played every offensive snap of the game along with Ohio State’s four other starting linemen: Munford at left tackle, Pridgeon at left guard, Jordan at center and Prince at right tackle.

Defensive Ends

Chase Young: 59
Jonathon Cooper: 56
Jashon Cornell: 16
Tyreke Smith: 7

As has been the case in most games since Nick Bosa’s season came to an end, Young and Cooper both played the majority of snaps at defensive end against Northwestern. Cornell and Smith mixed into the rotation for occasional playing time, with Smith playing two snaps at defensive tackle in the “Rushmen” package in addition to five snaps at defensive end.

Defensive Tackles

Dre’Mont Jones: 61
Robert Landers: 40
Davon Hamilton: 15
Haskell Garrett: 9
Tommy Togiai: 9
Taron Vincent: 5

While Jones, per usual, played the most snaps among defensive tackles, Landers played his second-highest snap count of the season. Landers played the majority of snaps at nose tackle after Hamilton spent part of the game in the locker room with an injury, though he later returned to the game. Togiai rotated in for nine snaps at nose tackle, while Garrett checked in for the same number of snaps at the 3-technique spot. Vincent played nose tackle when the Buckeyes used their three-man defensive line.

Linebackers

Malik Harrison: 70
Tuf Borland: 54
Pete Werner: 38
Baron Browning: 8
Dante Booker: 2
Dallas Gant: Special teams only
Justin Hilliard: Special teams only
Keandre Jones: Special teams only
Teradja Mitchell: Special teams only

Harrison played every one of Ohio State’s defensive snaps for the fifth week in a row. In a change from previous weeks – likely because of Northwestern’s offensive scheme – Borland played the second-most snaps among linebackers, ahead of Werner, who was only on the field for just over half of the Buckeyes’ defensive plays.

Browning substituted in for eight snaps – mostly as the middle linebacker in the Buckeyes’ 3-3-5 defensive formation – while Booker substituted in for Werner at outside linebacker for just a pair of snaps in the base defense.

Tuf Borland saw increased playing time against Northwestern.

Cornerbacks

Kendall Sheffield: 58
Shaun Wade: 43
Damon Arnette: 40
Jeffrey Okudah: 40
Sevyn Banks: Special teams only

Ohio State continued with its usual three-man cornerback rotation of Sheffield, Arnette and Okudah against Northwestern, with Sheffield playing the Buckeyes’ most (or in one game, tied for the most) snaps at the position for the 10th time this season. Wade, meanwhile, all 43 snaps at slot cornerback in the Buckeyes’ nickel packages for his third-highest snap count of the season.

Safeties

Jordan Fuller: 70
Brendon White: 70
Josh Proctor: Special teams only
Isaiah Pryor: Special teams only
Amir Riep: Special teams only
Jahsen Wint: Special teams only

Both starting safeties played every one of the Buckeyes’ defensive snaps at the position against Northwestern, marking the ninth time this year that Fuller has played every defensive snap but the first time that White has been on the field for every defensive play.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Drue Chrisman (holder)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Luke Farrell (blocker)
Joshua Alabi (blocker)
Wyatt Davis (blocker)
Josh Myers (blocker)
Davon Hamilton (blocker)
Gavin Cupp (blocker)
Kevin Woidke (blocker)
Rashod Berry (blocker)

Even with Davis’ move into the starting offensive line, Ohio State made no changes to its placekicking unit against Northwestern, keeping Davis in the lineup for an important game instead of trying to work another lineman into the unit in his place.

Kickoffs

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Baron Browning (gunner)
Teradja Mitchell (gunner)
Amir Riep (gunner)
Isaiah Pryor (gunner)
Keandre Jones (gunner)
Chris Olave (gunner)
Jahsen Wint (gunner)
Josh Proctor (gunner)
Justin Hilliard (gunner)
Ellijah Gardner (gunner)

Ohio State made no changes to its kickoff unit against Northwestern, with the exception that Olave played all the snaps on the kickoff unit instead of splitting snaps with K.J. Hill, as he had against Michigan.

Kickoff Returns

Demario McCall (returner)
C.J. Saunders (returner/blocker)
Teradja Mitchell (blocker)
Justin Hilliard (blocker)
Jake Hausmann (blocker)
Amir Riep (blocker)
Keandre Jones (blocker)
Dallas Gant (blocker)
Jahsen Wint (blocker)
Josh Proctor (blocker)
Dante Booker (blocker)

Booker was added to the kickoff return unit against Northwestern, replacing L’Christian “Blue” Smith, who did not play in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes made no other changes to their lineup on this unit, with McCall continuing to serve as the primary kickoff returner and Saunders lining up alongside him as the secondary returner.

Punts

Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Teradja Mitchell (upback)
Tuf Borland (upback)
Pete Werner (upback/wing)
Dante Booker (tackle)
Isaiah Pryor (tackle)
Malik Harrison (guard)
Justin Hilliard (guard)
Terry McLaurin (gunner)
Jeffrey Okudah (gunner)

Ohio State used the same personnel on its punting unit against Northwestern as it had against Michigan.

Punt Blocks/Returners

K.J. Hill (returner)
Amir Riep (rusher/blocker)
Isaiah Pryor (rusher/blocker)
Sevyn Banks (rusher/blocker)
Keandre Jones (rusher/blocker)
Chris Olave (rusher/blocker)
Jahsen Wint (rusher/blocker)
Shaun Wade (rusher/blocker)
Justin Hilliard (rusher/blocker)
Dante Booker (rusher/blocker)
Josh Proctor or Kendall Sheffield or Parris Campbell (rusher/blocker)

Damon Arnette did not play on the punt block/return team against Northwestern, with Proctor, Sheffield and Campbell all seeing snaps on the unit instead. Otherwise, the Buckeyes used the same personnel at the other 10 spots on this unit.