Snap Counts: Ohio State Uses 60 Players As Starters Play Four Quarters Against Indiana

Ohio State used exactly 60 players for the second week in a row in its 49-26 win over Indiana on Saturday.

While the Buckeyes’ game against the Hoosiers didn’t quite go down to the wire the way their previous game against Penn State did, it remained close enough that Ohio State never pulled its starters from the game, and as a result, there were limited opportunities for backups to play on offense or defense.

Still, 60 Buckeyes saw the field between offense, defense and special teams for the second straight game.

Of the 60 players who lined up against the Hoosiers, 57 were the same players who saw time against the Nittany Lions. The only Buckeyes who played against Indiana that didn’t play against Penn State were Dante Booker, who missed the Penn State game with an injury, and true freshmen Taron Vincent and Josh Proctor. Cornerbacks Cameron Brown, Tyreke Johnson and Marcus Williamson, who all played on special teams against the Nittany Lions, did not play against the Hoosiers.

As for the rest of the Buckeyes who played, you can read how much each of them played below.

All snap counts listed below 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: 96

Ohio State’s offense played a season-high 96 snaps against Indiana, and Haskins was on the field for every one of them. Saturday’s game was the third this season, along with the TCU and Penn State game, in which Haskins took every snap at quarterback while Tate Martell did not play.

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Running Backs

J.K. Dobbins: 55
Mike Weber: 43

For the fourth time this season and the third straight game, Dobbins played more snaps than Weber on Saturday. And even though the two backs rotated throughout the game per usual, Dobbins had twice as many carries and catches against the Hoosiers; Dobbins ran the ball 26 times and caught two passes for a combined 107 yards from scrimmage, while Weber had 13 carries and one catch for 75 total yards.

Wide Receivers

Austin Mack: 63
Terry McLaurin: 50
K.J. Hill: 46
Johnnie Dixon: 45
Parris Campbell: 42
Binjimen Victor: 31
C.J. Saunders: 6
Chris Olave: Special teams only

Ohio State made no significant changes to its wide receiver rotation against Indiana, as Mack played the most snaps among the Buckeyes’ receivers – while Victor played the least among the six regulars – for the third week in a row. McLaurin and Dixon saw nearly equal snaps at the Z receiver spot, while Hill and Campbell played nearly equal snaps in the slot, with Saunders checking in as a secondary slot receiver in four-receiver sets.

Tight Ends

Rashod Berry: 54
Luke Farrell: 33
Jeremy Ruckert: 10
Jake Hausmann: 2

Berry played a season-high in snaps against Indiana as he was on the field for more than half of Ohio State’s offensive plays, while Farrell – who played more snaps than Berry against Penn State – played just over a third of the snaps against the Hoosiers.

Ruckert, who played just two snaps against Penn State, saw an uptick in playing time against the Hoosiers for the highest number of snaps that he has seen with the first-team offense all year. Ruckert has now appeared in five games this season, meaning he is no longer eligible to take a redshirt for his true freshman year.

Hausmann saw offensive playing time for just the second time this season when he checked into the game for the Buckeyes’ final two snaps of the game in the victory formation.

The Buckeyes had two tight ends on the field for nine plays against the Hoosiers, with Farrell, Ruckert and Hausmann all playing simultaneously with Berry at points in the game.

Offensive Linemen

Thayer Munford: 96
Malcolm Pridgeon: 96
Michael Jordan: 96
Demetrius Knox: 96
Isaiah Prince: 96
Joshua Alabi: Special teams only
Wyatt Davis: Special teams only
Josh Myers: Special teams only
Gavin Cupp: Special teams only
Kevin Woidke: Special teams only

Like Haskins, the offensive line quintet of Munford, Pridgeon, Jordan, Knox and Prince – from left to right – played all 96 of Ohio State’s offensive snaps in Saturday’s game, marking the third time this season along with the TCU and Penn State games that they have been on the field for every play. Midway through the season, all five starting offensive linemen have been on the field for every snap with the first-team offense this year.

Isaiah Prince played every one of Ohio State's offensive snaps against Indiana, as did all five of the Buckeyes' starting offensive linemen.

Defensive Ends

Chase Young: 68
Jonathon Cooper: 46
Jashon Cornell: 20
Tyreke Smith: 15
Tyler Friday: 6

For the second straight week, Young played the vast majority of Ohio State’s defensive snaps (68 of 76) as the Buckeyes’ top defensive end with Nick Bosa sidelined. Cooper played more than 75 percent of the Buckeyes’ first 60 defensive snaps, but left the game with an injury late in the third quarter.

Cooper’s early exit from the game led to more playing time for Cornell, Smith and Friday in the defensive end rotation. Smith and Cornell also each played multiple snaps at defensive tackle in nickel packages. Friday now joins Smith among the true freshmen who have played in five or more games this season.

Defensive Tackles

Dre’Mont Jones: 64
Robert Landers: 30
Davon Hamilton: 28
Tommy Togiai: 10
Haskell Garrett: 9
Taron Vincent: 3

Despite suffering a foot injury against Penn State that he said left him only about “80 percent” healthy for Saturday’s game, Jones continued to lead Ohio State’s defensive tackles by playing more than 80 percent of the team’s snaps against the Hoosiers. Garrett checked in for most of the snaps that Jones wasn’t in the game, but Vincent also got in the game for a trio of snaps in the third quarter.

Landers and Hamilton, meanwhile, played nearly an even split at nose tackle for the second straight week, while Togiai – another true freshman who has now reached the five-game mark – also saw more playing time in the nose tackle rotation against Indiana than he did against the Nittany Lions.

Linebackers

Pete Werner: 70
Malik Harrison: 56
Baron Browning: 40
Tuf Borland: 30
Justin Hilliard: 9
Dante Booker: Special teams only
Dallas Gant: Special teams only
Keandre Jones: Special teams only
Teradja Mitchell: Special teams only
K’Vaughan Pope: Special teams only

Werner played all but six of Ohio State’s defensive snaps in Saturday’s game, playing every snap in the base defense and the majority of snaps in the nickel defense, though he was substituted out of the lineup in favor of Browning and Harrison in some subpackages. Harrison played all but four snaps, with Hilliard taking his place at outside linebacker on those snaps, before leaving the game with an injury late in the third quarter.

Borland and Browning rotated at middle linebacker, as they have all season, but with Harrison’s early exit, Browning saw increased playing time in nickel packages on Saturday – in which Borland does not play – leading to the sophomore playing more snaps despite Borland starting the game.

Cornerbacks

Kendall Sheffield: 60
Damon Arnette: 49
Jeffrey Okudah: 43
Shaun Wade: 34

Sheffield, Arnette and Okudah rotated as Ohio State’s outside cornerbacks on Saturday, as they have all season, with Sheffield playing the highest snap count for the fourth time in six games. Wade, meanwhile, continued to play all the snaps at slot cornerback in the nickel defense – as he has since the second game of the season – though he also played the Buckeyes’ final two defensive series of Saturday’s first half at safety, totaling seven snaps at that position.

Kendall Sheffield played the most snaps among all Ohio State cornerbacks for the fourth time this season against Indiana.

Safeties

Jordan Fuller: 76
Isaiah Pryor: 35
Jahsen Wint: 33
Amir Riep: 2
Josh Proctor: Special teams only
Brendon White: Special teams only

With Pryor suspended for the first half of Saturday’s game due to a targeting penalty incurred in the fourth quarter against Penn State, Wint started the game at safety, playing every snap alongside Fuller until the final two defensive series of the first half, when he was replaced in the lineup by Wade.

Wint did not return to the game on defense after being benched, as Pryor played every snap alongside Fuller – the only Buckeye to play every defensive snap in Saturday’s game – in the second half.

Riep also checked into the game for two plays at safety: one on the final defensive series in the first half, when Wade moved back to slot cornerback in a nickel package, and one in the fourth quarter when the Buckeyes put a dime package with three safeties on the field.

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Field Goals/Extra Points

Sean Nuernberger (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)

Ohio State used the same lineup on its placekicking unit for the fifth straight game.

Kickoffs

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Jeffrey Okudah or Shaun Wade (gunner)
Baron Browning or Dallas Gant (gunner)
Teradja Mitchell (gunner)
Amir Riep (gunner)
K.J. Hill or Chris Olave (gunner)
Josh Proctor (gunner)
Keandre Jones (gunner)
Brendon White (gunner)
K'Vaughan Pope (gunner)
Justin Hilliard (gunner)

Proctor was added to the first-team kickoff unit for the first time this season against Indiana, Riep returned to the unit after missing time due to injury, and White also made his debut on the kickoff team, replacing Pryor, Wint and Marcus Williamson, as Williamson did not suit up for Saturday’s game.

The rest of the starters on the kickoff unit were the same as they were against Penn State, with Mitchell appearing in his fifth game of the season, exhausting his redshirt eligibility.

Kickoff Returns

Johnnie Dixon (returner/blocker)
C.J. Saunders (blocker)
Jeremy Ruckert (blocker)
Jake Hausmann (blocker)
Binjimen Victor (blocker)
Keandre Jones (blocker)
Dallas Gant (blocker)
Jahsen Wint (blocker)
Shaun Wade (blocker)
Brendon White (blocker)
Justin Hilliard (blocker)

Ohio State used the same kickoff return unit against Indiana as it did against Penn State.

Punts

Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Jonathon Cooper or Teradja Mitchell (upback)
Tuf Borland (upback)
Pete Werner (upback)
Malik Harrison or Dallas Gant (guard)
Justin Hilliard (guard)
Parris Campbell or Austin Mack (tackle)
Dante Booker (tackle)
Jeffrey Okudah (gunner)
Terry McLaurin (gunner)

Booker and Campbell returned to Ohio State’s punting unit on Saturday, replacing Jordan Fuller and Marcus Williamson, who took their places on the unit against Penn State. As Cooper and Harrison left the game before the Buckeyes’ second of two punts, they were replaced by Mitchell and Gant for Chrisman’s second kick, while Mack also subbed in for Campbell for his season debut on the punting unit.

Punt Blocks/Returners

K.J. Hill (returner)
Damon Arnette (rusher/blocker)
Kendall Sheffield (rusher/blocker)
Jeffrey Okudah (rusher/blocker)
Amir Riep (rusher/blocker)
Shaun Wade (rusher/blocker)
Jahsen Wint (rusher/blocker)
Keandre Jones (rusher/blocker)
Chris Olave (rusher/blocker)
Justin Hilliard (rusher/blocker)
Baron Browning (rusher/blocker)

Okudah was a regular on the punt return unit on Saturday for the first time since the first two games of the season, while Riep returned to the unit for the first time since the season opener. Browning saw regular playing time on the punt return/block unit for the first time since the TCU game. Brendon White, Marcus Williamson, Cameron Brown and Tyreke Johnson were among those who did not play on the punt return against Indiana after doing so against Penn State.