Snap Counts: Season-High 68 Ohio State Players See Game Action As Buckeyes Make Quick Work of Western Kentucky

A season-high total of 68 Ohio State players saw action on offense, defense and/or special teams against the Hilltoppers – 12 more than against Youngstown State and 10 more than against Indiana. Thirty Buckeyes played snaps on offense and 29 Buckeyes played snaps on defense while another nine saw action on special teams only.

Ten Buckeyes saw their first playing time of the season against Western Kentucky: running back Evan Pryor, wide receiver Kojo Antwi, tight end Jelani Thurman, offensive linemen Victor Cutler Jr., George Fitzpatrick and Enokk Vimahi, defensive tackles Kayden McDonald and Jason Moore, safety Brenten “Inky” Jones and kicker Parker Lewis. All of them saw playing time in the fourth quarter as Ohio State put the finishing touches on a 63-10 win.

The only Buckeyes to see action against Youngstown State that didn’t play against Western Kentucky were tight end Joe Royer and linebacker Arvell Reese, who were both unavailable for the game due to injuries.

Ohio State made no changes to its starting lineups on offense or defense against Western Kentucky, though one player who saw a significant increase in playing time was Jordan Hancock, who played a majority of the game at slot cornerback after subbing in for starting nickel safety Sonny Styles. Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams also played a career-high 50 snaps, the most among all Ohio State defensive linemen against Western Kentucky, and made the most of them by recording seven total tackles with a sack plus a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

A look at how many snaps every Buckeye played against WKU follows below. Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics were used to compile offensive and defensive snap counts – with a few adjustments made to account for discrepancies we found while reviewing the film – while special teams snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors researcher Matt Gutridge. All snap counts should be considered unofficial as they were not provided by Ohio State.

(Note: Several offensive and defensive snap counts were updated Monday by PFF after this article was published. The article has been updated to reflect those changes.)

Quarterbacks

Kyle McCord: 43
Devin Brown: 17

Unlike in the first two games of the season, in which Brown replaced McCord on the fourth drive of the game to see snaps with the game on the line before McCord returned, McCord saw uninterrupted action against Western Kentucky after being named the team’s outright starting quarterback last week. McCord was on the field for all of Ohio State’s first nine possessions of the game, leading the Buckeyes on six touchdown drives while completing 19 of 23 passing attempts for 318 yards and three touchdowns.

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Brown took over for Ohio State’s final three possessions, before which the Buckeyes already had a 49-10 lead. The backup quarterback completed three of four passing attempts for 40 yards, highlighted by a 28-yard touchdown pass to Carnell Tate, with an interception.

Running Backs

TreVeyon Henderson: 36
Chip Trayanum: 10
Miyan Williams: 8
Evan Pryor: 5

Henderson held feature-back status against Western Kentucky as he saw most of the workload at running back while the game was still on the line, playing 36 of Ohio State’s first 43 offensive snaps.

The only other running back to see playing time in the first three quarters against WKU was Trayanum, who now appears to have solidified himself as the Buckeyes’ No. 2 running back ahead of Williams, who did not see any action until the fourth quarter against the Hilltoppers.

Pryor got in the game on each of Ohio State’s final two possessions for his first playing time of the season, carrying the ball on three of his five snaps for a total of 12 yards. Xavier Johnson also played two snaps at running back on the Buckeyes’ final drive, carrying the ball on both plays for 13 combined yards.

Wide Receivers

Julian Fleming: 39
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 36
Emeka Egbuka: 30
Carnell Tate: 23
Xavier Johnson: 17
Jayden Ballard: 8
Brandon Inniss: 5
Noah Rogers: 5
David Adolph: Special teams only
Kojo Antwi: Special teams only

Ohio State’s top two wide receivers were the first two starters to be pulled out of the game against Western Kentucky as neither Harrison nor Egbuka played any snaps after the Buckeyes’ opening drive of the third quarter. Fleming saw the most playing time among Buckeye wideouts against WKU as he continued playing through the first four plays of the fourth quarter.

Tate saw the most playing time of his Ohio State career to date as he was on the field for all of the Buckeyes’ final four drives after Harrison exited the contest. Johnson replaced Egbuka at slot receiver for multiple drives before Inniss took his place for a series in the fourth quarter. Ballard replaced Fleming at Z receiver and was on the field for six plays before Rogers took his place for the game’s final series.

Tight Ends

Cade Stover: 40
Gee Scott Jr.: 24
Patrick Gurd: 7
Jelani Thurman: 5

Stover was on the field for all but three plays while McCord was on the field before coming out of the game for the final three series. Scott played alongside Stover in two-tight end sets throughout the game – lining up in the backfield as an offset fullback for some of those plays – while also remaining in the game for 10 additional snaps as a single tight end after Stover’s day was done.

Gurd saw playing time on both of Ohio State’s final two possessions while Thurman played the first five offensive snaps of his Buckeye career on the game’s final drive.

Offensive Linemen

Josh Simmons: 50
Donovan Jackson: 50
Carson Hinzman: 50
Matt Jones: 50
Josh Fryar: 50
Luke Montgomery: 12
Tegra Tshabola: 10
Enokk Vimahi: 10
Zen Michalski: 9
Victor Cutler Jr.: 9
George Fitzpatrick: 1
Jakob James: 1

The first-team offensive line of Simmons, Jackson, Hinzman, Jones and Fryar remained in the game for Brown’s first drive before leaving the game early for the first time this season. Ohio State’s second-team offensive line for its final two possessions of the day consisted of Michalski at left tackle, Tshabola at left guard, Cutler at center, Vimahi at right guard and Montgomery at right tackle until the final play of the game, when Fitzpatrick replaced Michalski at left tackle and James replaced Cutler at center to get in the game for one play each.

As he did in each of Ohio State’s first two games, Montgomery also saw action as a sixth offensive lineman, playing two snaps in that role on the Buckeyes’ second drive of the game. He did not return to the field until the fourth quarter after an unsustained block by Montgomery led to a strip-sack of McCord on Montgomery’s second play in the game.

Defensive Ends

Jack Sawyer: 50
JT Tuimoloau: 48
Caden Curry: 21
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 21
Mitchell Melton: 8
Omari Abor: 3

Sawyer played a career-high 48 snaps against Western Kentucky as he played the same number of snaps as Tuimoloau, who also played his highest snap count of the season to date after leading the Buckeye DEs in playing time in the first two games.

Curry and Jackson both played over 20 defensive snaps in a game for the first time as Buckeyes as they rotated in with Sawyer and Tuimoloau and then continued to play into the fourth quarter after the starters’ days were done. As he did in the first two games, Curry occasionally kicked inside to play defensive tackle in the Buckeyes’ third-down Rushmen package.

Melton played eight snaps in the fourth quarter and made the most of them, recording two tackles for loss including his first career sack. Abor saw action on Ohio State’s final defensive series of the game for the second week in a row.

Defensive Tackles

Tyleik Williams: 50
Mike Hall: 34
Ty Hamilton: 31
Jaden McKenzie: 10
Hero Kanu: 7
Tywone Malone: 5
Kayden McDonald: 4
Jason Moore: 3

Williams led Ohio State’s defensive tackles in playing time for the third game in a row to start the season as he played 50 snaps against Western Kentucky – 15 more than he had ever played before in a Buckeye game. Hall and Hamilton both saw slighter increases in playing time but also played their highest snap counts of the year to date as the top three defensive tackles played the vast majority of snaps until Western Kentucky’s final four possessions of the game.

McKenzie mixed in for a couple of snaps on Western Kentucky’s opening possession but saw most of his playing time in the third and fourth quarter. Kanu, Malone, McDonald and Moore played all of their snaps in the fourth quarter. McDonald was on the field for Western Kentucky’s final four offensive plays while Moore was in the game for the final three as both true freshmen made their Buckeye debuts.

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Linebackers

Steele Chambers: 62
Tommy Eichenberg: 56
Cody Simon: 18
C.J. Hicks: 11
Reid Carrico: Special teams only
Gabe Powers: Special teams only

Jim Knowles continued to lean entirely on his starting linebackers while the game was on the line as Eichenberg played every snap of Ohio State’s first 10 defensive series while Chambers played every snap but one of the Buckeyes’ first 11 defensive series. Simon replaced Eichenberg at Mike linebacker for Western Kentucky’s final four possessions while Hicks replaced Chambers at Will linebacker for the Hilltoppers’ final three drives.

Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 63
Davison Igbinosun: 63
Jordan Hancock: 50
Jyaire Brown: 11
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 11

Burke and Igbinosun manned the outside cornerback positions for Ohio State for the first three quarters against Western Kentucky while Brown and Mathews took their place for the fourth quarter.

Hancock played a career-high 50 snaps as he was on the field for two-thirds of Ohio State’s 74 defensive plays as a slot cornerback, giving the Buckeyes a third cornerback on the field against a Western Kentucky offense that routinely had at least three wide receivers on the field.

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Safeties

Lathan Ransom: 59
Josh Proctor: 55
Sonny Styles: 27
Ja’Had Carter: 19
Malik Hartford: 11
Cameron Martinez: 2
Brenten “Inky” Jones: Special teams only

Despite being listed as questionable on the pregame status report, Ransom started the game at strong safety and was on the field for every play of Ohio State’s first nine defensive series alongside Proctor, who returned to the starting lineup at free safety after missing the Youngstown State game with an injury.

Styles started the game at nickel safety but played his lowest snap count of the season as Hancock played most of the game in his place. Styles moved to strong safety in place of Ransom for four snaps while Hancock was in the game in the third quarter, marking his first in-game action at one of the high safety positions this year.

Carter replaced Proctor at free safety for Western Kentucky’s final nine possessions while Hartford played the entire fourth quarter at strong safety. Martinez joined Hancock on the field as a second slot cornerback on one play when the Buckeyes used a dime package but played only two total snaps as Hancock and Styles split the workload at nickel.

Extra Points

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 9
Jesse Mirco (holder): 9
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 9
Tegra Tshabola (guard): 9
Zen Michalski (end): 9
Enokk Vimahi (wing/guard): 8
Jakob James (end): 8
Josh Simmons (tackle): 8
Donovan Jackson (guard): 8
Josh Fryar (tackle): 8
Cade Stover (wing): 8
Patrick Gurd (wing): 2
Victor Cutler Jr. (end): 1
George Fitzpatrick (tackle): 1
Luke Montgomery (tackle): 1
Jelani Thurman (wing): 1

Vimahi (wearing a No. 41 jersey) took the place of Joe Royer on the primary extra point unit from Ohio State’s first two games. Gurd took Vimahi’s place on the wing for Fielding’s final two extra points of the day, but Vimahi returned to the lineup for Fielding’s final extra point as he, Cutler, Fitzpatrick, Montgomery and Thurman replaced James, Simmons, Jackson, Fryar and Stover in the lineup.

Ohio State did not attempt any field goals for the second game in a row after Fielding made all three of his field goal attempts in the season opener at Indiana.

Kickoffs

Reid Carrico: 10
Xavier Johnson: 10
Gabe Powers: 10
Cody Simon: 10
Jayden Fielding (kicker): 8
Jayden Ballard: 8
Caden Curry: 8
C.J. Hicks: 8
Chip Trayanum: 8
Sonny Styles: 7
Carnell Tate: 7
Denzel Burke: 3
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 3
Parker Lewis (kicker): 2
Evan Pryor: 2
Malik Hartford: 2
Davison Igbinosun: 2
Brenten “Inky” Jones: 2

Hicks joined Ohio State’s starting kickoff coverage unit against Western Kentucky, replacing Carter, who did not play on the kickoff team after starting on it one week earlier. The rest of Ohio State’s starting kickoff unit remained the same from the Youngstown State game, though Ballard replaced Igbinosun after two kickoffs while Tate replaced Burke after three.

Lewis handled Ohio State’s final two kickoffs of the game, sending them both into the end zone for touchbacks, for the first playing time of his Buckeye career. Jones, a second-year walk-on safety, also made his Ohio State debut as a member of the coverage team on those two kickoffs.

Kickoff Returns

Xavier Johnson (returner): 3
David Adolph: 3
Ja’Had Carter: 3
Caden Curry: 3
Julian Fleming: 3
C.J. Hicks: 3
Brandon Inniss: 3
Gee Scott Jr.: 3
Cody Simon: 3
Carnell Tate: 3
Chip Trayanum: 3

Adolph and Carter were new additions to the kickoff return team against Western Kentucky, replacing Hancock and Royer. Johnson attempted to return two of WKU’s three kickoffs and returned them for a combined 40 yards.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 2
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 2
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 2
Cody Simon (upback): 2
Gee Scott Jr. (guard): 2
Sonny Styles (guard): 2
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 2
Chip Trayanum (tackle): 2
Cade Stover (wing): 2
Julian Fleming (gunner): 2
Jayden Ballard (gunner): 2

Ohio State’s punting unit for Mirco’s only two punts against Western Kentucky, which came on the Buckeyes’ first two possessions of the second half, was unchanged from the Youngstown State game. 

Punt Blocks/Returns

Ja’Had Carter: 3
Jayden Ballard (returner): 2
Emeka Egbuka (returner): 2
Kojo Antwi: 2
Denzel Burke: 2
Steele Chambers: 2
Tommy Eichenberg: 2
Malik Hartford: 2
C.J. Hicks: 2
Xavier Johnson: 2
Brandon Inniss: 2
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 2
Gabe Powers: 2
Josh Proctor: 2
Lathan Ransom: 2
Jack Sawyer: 2
Carnell Tate: 2
Jelani Thurman: 2
JT Tuimoloau: 2
Tyleik Williams: 2
Mike Hall Jr.: 1
Ty Hamilton: 1
Davison Igbinosun: 1

Ohio State kept its defense on the field for both of Western Kentucky’s third-quarter punts after the Hilltoppers went for it on fourth down times in the first half. The punt return unit for Western Kentucky’s fourth-quarter punts consisted mostly of first- and second-year Buckeyes – including Antwi, who played his first two snaps of the year on those punts – while Ballard took Egbuka’s place as the punt returner. 

Ballard’s 18-yard return on Western Kentucky’s final punt of the day was Ohio State’s longest punt return so far this season.

Field Goal/Extra Point Block

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

Ohio State substituted Hall and McKenzie into the game for Hamilton and Williams prior to Western Kentucky’s lone field goal attempt of the day. Otherwise, the players on the field for WKU’s only field goal and only extra point of the game were the players who had been in the game for the previous defensive play.