Snap Counts: 59 Buckeyes See Playing Time As Most Starters Play Four Quarters in Ohio State’s 28-Point Win over Purdue

The Buckeyes raced out to a 35-7 lead in the game’s first 17 minutes, but four Purdue scores between the second and third quarter kept the contest just close enough that Ryan Day and Ohio State’s coaching staff never pulled their first-team units completely out of the game, though there were some additional opportunities for backups to play in the fourth quarter of the game as Ohio State ultimately won 59-31.

In total, the Buckeyes played the same number of players as they scored points as 59 Ohio State players saw game action against Purdue, two more than in each of the previous two games against Penn State and Nebraska. Three players – C.J. Stroud, Nicholas Petit-Frere and Luke Wypler – played every snap on offense while starting safeties Ronnie Hickman and Bryson Shaw played every snap on defense.

Below, we break down how Ohio State split up playing time in every unit against Purdue in our weekly Snap Counts feature. 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: 73

Even though Ohio State had a comfortable 28-point lead when it took the field for its final offensive possession of the game, Ryan Day opted to keep Stroud on the field rather than give Kyle McCord or Quinn Ewers a chance to play. While one reason not to play McCord could have been to preserve his redshirt, as he’s already played in four games this season, Day said that was not a consideration but that he “just wanted to make sure that we finished the game the right way.”

Stroud played every snap at quarterback for the sixth time in nine starts this season and attempted passes on more than half of Ohio State’s 73 offensive plays, completing 31 of 38 attempts for 361 yards and five touchdowns.

Running Backs

TreVeyon Henderson: 40
Miyan Williams: 33

After leaning almost exclusively on Henderson at running back in the previous two games against Penn State and Nebraska, Ohio State split up the workload between Henderson and Williams against Purdue, with Henderson playing just seven more snaps than Williams.

The reduced workload for Henderson was partially because Henderson went back to the locker room for part of the second quarter, though he was able to return to the game to start the second half.

Williams, who played his largest snap count since the second game of the season against Oregon, ended up leading the Buckeyes with 14 carries for 117 yards – compared to 13 carries for 98 yards for Henderson, though Henderson scored two touchdowns – after he ran the ball eight times for 66 yards to run out the clock on the final possession of the game.

Wide Receivers

Chris Olave: 62
Garrett Wilson: 61
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 46
Julian Fleming: 11
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 9
Chris Booker: Special teams only
Emeka Egbuka: Special teams only
Xavier Johnson: Special teams only

Olave and Wilson were both on the field for nearly every offensive snap until the final drive of the game, when they were replaced by Fleming and Harrison (though Olave returned to the field for the Buckeyes’ victory formation on their final two plays of the game). With Wilson back in the lineup after missing the Nebraska game, the trio of Olave, Wilson and Smith-Njigba played nearly all of the wide receiver snaps against Purdue – on which they combined for 28 catches, 350 yards and five touchdowns – with Smith-Njigba coming off the field in multi-tight end sets, which the Buckeyes used regularly against the Boilermakers.

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Tight Ends

Jeremy Ruckert: 49
Mitch Rossi: 26
Cade Stover: 26

After Ruckert played 75 snaps while Rossi played just 11 and Stover played just 10 against Nebraska, Kevin Wilson said last week that he wanted Ruckert to play closer to 50 snaps with Stover and Rossi sharing more of the workload, and he made that happen against Purdue.

Although Ruckert played the most snaps among tight ends as he has in every game this season, Rossi made his first career start against Purdue and played a career-high 26 snaps on offense while Stover also played a career-high 26 snaps. The Buckeyes utilized combinations of all three of them in two-tight end sets over the course of Saturday’s game while all three of them were also on the field together for a few plays.

Offensive Linemen

Nicholas Petit-Frere: 73
Luke Wypler: 73
Dawand Jones: 70
Thayer Munford: 63
Paris Johnson Jr.: 54
Matt Jones: 32
Donovan Jackson: 2
Josh Fryar: Special teams only
Jakob James: Special teams only

Ohio State continued to utilize Matt Jones as a sixth man on the offensive line as he played 13 snaps in place of Munford at left guard and 19 snaps in place of Johnson at right guard. Munford also played three snaps at left tackle while Petit-Frere moved over to right tackle for three snaps in place of Dawand Jones. Wypler, as has been in the case in most games since Matt Jones forced his way into the rotation, was the only offensive lineman to play every one of Ohio State’s offensive snaps in the same position against Purdue.

Jackson entered the game for two plays as a sixth offensive lineman.

Defensive Ends

Zach Harrison: 44
Tyreke Smith: 35
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 31
J.T. Tuimoloau: 19
Jack Sawyer: 13
Jacolbe Cowan: 3

After Harrison and Smith played the vast majority of snaps at defensive end against Nebraska, Jean-Baptiste had a more prominent role in the rotation against Purdue, tying his highest snap count since the first half of the season and playing only four fewer snaps than Smith, who made his third straight start opposite Harrison.

Sawyer played double-digit snaps for the first time in three games while Cowan saw his first playing time in three games on the Buckeyes’ final five defensive series of the contest.

Defensive Tackles

Taron Vincent: 30
Jerron Cage: 28
Haskell Garrett: 28
Antwuan Jackson: 24
Tyleik Williams: 14
Ty Hamilton: 13

While Vincent made his second consecutive start and played the most snaps among Ohio State defensive tackles for the second game in a row, Garrett also saw regular playing time in the 3-technique rotation after playing a season-low 12 snaps against Nebraska while battling a minor injury. Vincent also played snaps at nose tackle when the Buckeyes shifted to a three-man front in their dime package.

Jackson made his second consecutive start at nose tackle, but Cage ended up seeing the most playing time at that spot for a season-high 28 snaps. Third-team defensive tackles Hamilton and Williams mixed in for the fewest snaps.

Linebackers

Steele Chambers: 52
Tommy Eichenberg: 35
Cody Simon: 30
Palaie Gaoteote: 11
Teradja Mitchell: 10
Craig Young: 6
Ryan Batsch: Special teams only
Cade Kacherski: Special teams only

Chambers made his first career start and played a career-high 52 snaps against Purdue as he was on the field for more than 70 percent of Ohio State’s defensive snaps at Will linebacker. Mitchell, who started eight of Ohio State’s first nine games of the year at Will linebacker, played only sparingly for the second game in a row while Gaoteote also mixed in for occasional snaps at Will.

Simon made his eighth consecutive start at linebacker, but Eichenberg rotated in to play his highest snap count since he started the first three games of the season. Young continued to play occasional snaps at linebacker as a dime package substitution.

Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 65
Cameron Brown: 49
Sevyn Banks: 26
Lejond Cavazos: 5
Demario McCall: Special teams only
Ryan Watts: Special teams only

Although Banks started opposite Burke for the sixth time in the last seven games, he played his lowest snap count since the first three games of the season as Brown – who played his highest snap count since the first three games of the season – was on the field for well over half of Ohio State’s 72 defensive plays while Burke was on the field for all but seven.

Cavazos, like Cowan, substituted in on Ohio State’s final defensive series of the game for his first playing time in three games.

Safeties

Ronnie Hickman: 72
Bryson Shaw: 72
Marcus Williamson: 40
Lathan Ransom: 37
Cameron Martinez: Special teams only
Kourt Williams: Special teams only

Hickman and Shaw continued to be mainstays at safety as both of them were on the field for every single defensive snap against Purdue. Williamson made his fifth consecutive start at cover safety but continued to platoon at that position with Ransom, who earned defensive player of the game honors for his performance off the bench.

While Ohio State had used Martinez as a dime package specialist in each of the last four games, he was replaced by Williamson in that package against Purdue as the Buckeyes used Williamson and Ransom as the two cover safeties/slot cornerbacks when the Buckeyes had six defensive backs on the field.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Noah Ruggles (kicker): 9
Jesse Mirco (holder): 9
Bradley Robinson (long snapper): 9
Mitch Rossi (wing): 9
Matt Jones (end): 9
Josh Fryar (tackle): 9
Dawand Jones (guard): 9
Donovan Jackson (guard): 9
Paris Johnson Jr. (tackle): 9
Jakob James (end): 9
Cade Stover (wing): 9

Ohio State made no changes to its field goal unit against Purdue from the previous game against Nebraska. Ruggles remained perfect on the season as he made his lone field goal attempt (from 30 yards) and all eight of his extra point attempts against the Boilermakers.

Kickoffs

Xavier Johnson: 10
Cade Kacherski: 10
Demario McCall: 10
Teradja Mitchell: 10
Cade Stover: 10
Ryan Watts: 10
Noah Ruggles (kicker): 9
Chris Booker: 9
Palaie Gaoteote: 9
Cameron Martinez: 8
Lathan Ransom: 7
Kourt Williams: 4
Marcus Williamson: 2
Dominic DiMaccio (kicker): 1
Craig Young: 1

With Marcus Hooker unavailable to play, Gaoteote became a regular on kickoff coverage against Purdue and looked like he belonged on the unit, recovering a fumble forced by Booker after a pooch kick by Ruggles. Ransom was also a new addition to the kickoff coverage team against Purdue, replacing Williams as a starter on the unit.

DiMaccio replaced Ruggles for Ohio State’s final kickoff of the night for his third game appearance of the season.

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Kickoff Returns

Emeka Egbuka (returner): 6
Chris Booker: 6
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 6
Xavier Johnson: 6
Cade Kacherski: 6
Mitch Rossi: 6
Cade Stover: 6
Ryan Watts: 6
Marcus Williamson: 6
Craig Young: 6
Steele Chambers: 5
Miyan Williams: 1

Chambers returned to the starting kickoff return unit against Purdue – though Williams was on the field in his place for Purdue’s second kickoff of the game – after missing the first half of the Nebraska game due to a targeting penalty. The rest of the kickoff return unit remained unchanged from previous games. Egbuka returned three of Purdue’s six kickoffs for a total of 76 yards, highlighted by a 34-yard return.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 1
Bradley Robinson (long snapper): 1
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 1
Mitch Rossi (upback): 1
Steele Chambers (guard): 1
Cade Kacherski (guard): 1
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 1
Lathan Ransom (tackle): 1
Jeremy Ruckert (wing): 1
Chris Booker (gunner): 1
Chris Olave (gunner): 1

Ohio State only needed to punt on one of its 11 possessions against Purdue. The lineup for that punt consisted of the same players who have started on the punting unit in previous games.

Punt Blocks/Returns

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (returner): 2
Ryan Batsch: 2
Denzel Burke: 2
Chris Booker: 2
Lejond Cavazos: 2
Palaie Gaoteote: 2
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 2
Cade Kacherski: 2
Cameron Martinez: 2
Demario McCall: 2
Craig Young: 2

Although Garrett Wilson returned to the lineup on offense, Smith-Njigba served as Ohio State’s primary punt returner for the second week in a row, though he did not return either of Purdue’s two punts.

The same 11 Ohio State players were on the field for those two punts, both of which came in the first quarter of the game. Batsch, Cavazos and Gaoteote were new additions to the punt block unit against Purdue, replacing Marcus Hooker, Kourt Williams and Emeka Egbuka.

Field Goal/Extra Point Block

Denzel Burke: 5
Haskell Garrett: 5
Ronnie Hickman: 5
Antwuan Jackson: 5
Bryson Shaw: 5
J.T. Tuimoloau: 5
Steele Chambers: 4
Javontae Jean-Baptiste: 4
Cameron Brown: 3
Cody Simon: 3
Marcus Williamson: 3
Sevyn Banks: 2
Tommy Eichenberg: 2
Lathan Ransom: 2
Zach Harrison: 1
Teradja Mitchell: 1

Tuimoloau, Garrett and Jackson were brought in (when they weren’t on the field already) for each Purdue extra point and the Boilermakers’ lone field goal of the game. The rest of the kick-blocking unit, per usual, consisted of players who were already on the field for the previous defensive play.