Snap Counts: Jordan Hancock, Miyan Williams, Jermaine Mathews Jr. Play Biggest Roles of Season in Ohio State’s Win over Penn State

Ohio State ran 79 plays on offense – its highest total of the season to date, as it had more than 34 minutes of possession – and nine of its starters were on the field for at least 70 of them. All five of the Buckeyes’ starting offensive linemen, quarterback Kyle McCord, wide receivers Julian Fleming and Marvin Harrison Jr. and tight end Cade Stover were all in that club, while running back Miyan Williams and wide receivers Carnell Tate and Xavier Johnson also played season-high snap counts on offense.

Defensively, the Buckeyes were on the field for 70 plays against the Nittany Lions. Seven of its defensive starters played more than 60 of those snaps: safeties Lathan Ransom and Josh Proctor, linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, cornerbacks Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock, defensive end JT Tuimoloau and defensive tackle Tyleik Williams. Hancock and fellow cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. both played season-high snap counts with regular starter Denzel Burke sidelined for the game by injury.

Altogether, 52 Buckeyes saw action in the 20-12 win over the Nittany Lions. Seventeen Buckeyes played on offense and 19 Buckeyes played on defense – with Caden Curry playing on both sides of the ball for a fourth straight game – while 17 other Buckeyes played only on special teams.

Our full report on how many snaps each Buckeye played against Penn State can be found below. Offensive and defensive snap counts were obtained via Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics while special teams snap counts were compiled by Eleven Warriors researcher Matt Gutridge. All snap counts should be considered unofficial as Ohio State did not provide them.

Quarterbacks

Kyle McCord: 77
Devin Brown: 2

Brown was utilized in a red-zone package for the second week in a row, but suffered an ankle sprain on a 5-yard run on his second snap in the game, bringing his day to an early end. McCord played all of Ohio State’s other plays for a career-high 77 snaps, completing 22 of 35 passing attempts for 286 yards and a touchdown.

Running Backs

Miyan Williams: 54
Chip Trayanum: 27

Trayanum made his third consecutive start with TreVeyon Henderson sidelined again, but Williams – who did not play more than 15 snaps in any of Ohio State’s first six games – ended up playing twice as many snaps as the starter. Trayanum was on the field for Ohio State’s first two possessions, but after a whiffed pass block that led to a third-down sack on the Buckeyes’ second drive, Williams would play most of the rest of the game with the exception of a couple of series in the second half.

Williams ran the ball 24 times for 62 yards and a touchdown while Trayanum had just nine carries for 22 yards.

Dallan Hayden, despite running for 76 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries against Purdue, did not play any snaps against Penn State, keeping him at only two game appearances for the year and preserving the possibility that he could redshirt this season by playing in four games or fewer.

Fullbacks

Caden Curry: 2

Curry saw situational action on offense as a fullback for the fourth game in a row, serving as a lead blocker for Williams on two red-zone runs. Williams ran behind Curry for a 2-yard touchdown on Curry’s first play in the game.

Wide Receivers

Julian Fleming: 76
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 70
Carnell Tate: 36
Xavier Johnson: 32
David Adolph: Special teams only
Jayden Ballard: Special teams only
Brandon Inniss: Special teams only

Fleming led all Ohio State receivers in playing time for the second game in a row as he was on the field for all but three of the Buckeyes’ offensive plays against Penn State. Fleming (and sometimes Johnson) stayed on the field over Harrison in short-yardage running packages when the Buckeyes had only one or two receivers in the game.

Harrison still played a season-high 70 snaps and turned those into a career-high 11 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown.

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Johnson made his second consecutive start at slot receiver in place of Emeka Egbuka, but Tate ended up playing slightly more as the freshman wideout rotated into the lineup throughout the game.

Tight Ends

Cade Stover: 77
Gee Scott Jr.: 19
Patrick Gurd: Special teams only

Stover played a career-high 77 snaps against Penn State as he was on the field for all but two of Ohio State’s offensive plays against the Nittany Lions. Scott played his second-lowest snap total of the season as the Buckeyes used two tight ends on only 17 plays against Penn State while Scott took Stover’s place in the lineup for only two other plays.

Offensive Linemen

Josh Simmons: 79
Donovan Jackson: 79
Carson Hinzman: 79
Matt Jones: 79
Josh Fryar: 79
Luke Montgomery: 2
Jakob James: Special teams only
Zen Michalski: Special teams only
Tegra Tshabola: Special teams only
Enokk Vimahi: Special teams only

All five starting offensive linemen played every snap of the game for the fifth time in seven games this season as each of them were on the field for a career-high 79 snaps. Montgomery, as he has in every game but one this season, also saw action as a sixth offensive lineman – he was on the field for the same two red-zone plays as Curry in a package that left no wide receivers on the field.

Defensive Ends

JT Tuimoloau: 65
Jack Sawyer: 46
Kenyatta Jackson: 19
Caden Curry: 14
Mitchell Melton: 2

Tuimoloau played 65-plus snaps for the third time in four weeks and made two of the biggest defensive plays of the game – a sack on the first play of the fourth quarter and a fourth-down pass breakup one play later – to come through in the clutch against Penn State for the second year in a row.

Unlike against Notre Dame, Ohio State did not rely exclusively on Tuimoloau and Sawyer at defensive end against Penn State. Jackson saw the most work off the bench as a rotational defensive end, as some of Curry’s snaps came as a pass-rushing defensive tackle on Penn State’s final two drives. Melton’s two snaps also came on Penn State’s final two possessions; he lined up as a standup rusher on both plays.

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Defensive Tackles

Tyleik Williams: 62
Mike Hall: 39
Ty Hamilton: 30
Jaden McKenzie: 2
Kayden McDonald: 1

As he has in every game this year, Williams played the most snaps among defensive tackles against Penn State, taking the field for 62 of Ohio State’s 70 defensive plays, his second-highest play count of the season.

Hamilton started the game at nose tackle after playing only 15 snaps against Purdue, but Hall still ended up playing the second-most snaps among DTs over the course of the game as he played exactly 39 snaps for the second game in a row.

McKenzie got in the game for Ohio State’s final defensive play of the third quarter and one more play on Penn State’s final possession. McDonald made his third game appearance of the season when he entered the game as a third defensive tackle for a short-yardage package on a 3rd-and-1 late in the third quarter.

Linebackers

Tommy Eichenberg: 70
Steele Chambers: 52
Cody Simon: 19
Reid Carrico: Special teams only
C.J. Hicks: Special teams only
Gabe Powers: Special teams only

Eichenberg played every snap of the game at Mike linebacker for his second-highest snap count of the year to date, leading the Buckeyes with eight tackles in the process.

Simon continued to rotate into the game at Will linebacker but did not do so as frequently as he did against Purdue. After playing 45 snaps off the bench against the Boilermakers, Simon played only 19 snaps against Penn State – but still recorded five tackles with a tackle for loss – as Chambers played over 50 snaps for the fifth time this season.

Cornerbacks

Jordan Hancock: 69
Davison Igbinosun: 69
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 47
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: Special teams only

Hancock made his first start of the season in place of Denzel Burke, and both he and Igbinosun were on the field for all but one play – the aforementioned short-yardage play where McDonald entered the game and Simon was on the field as a third linebacker – in which the Buckeyes did not have any cornerbacks on the field.

That said, Hancock played more than two-thirds of his snaps inside as a slot cornerback, opening the door for Mathews to play more snaps against Penn State than he had in his first six games as a Buckeye combined. Mathews manned the second outside spot opposite Igbinosun whenever he was in the game.

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Safeties

Josh Proctor: 70
Lathan Ransom: 70
Sonny Styles: 24
Ja’Had Carter: Special teams only
Malik Hartford: Special teams only

Proctor and Ransom both played every snap of the game as Ohio State’s two primary safeties for the third time in four weeks. Styles made his seventh consecutive start to begin the year at nickel safety, but played a season-low 24 snaps as the Buckeyes relied more heavily on their three-cornerback lineup against Penn State, though Styles still recorded four tackles with a sack in limited action.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 5
Jesse Mirco (holder): 5
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 5
Enokk Vimahi (wing): 5
Jakob James (end): 5
Josh Simmons (tackle): 5
Donovan Jackson (guard): 5
Tegra Tshabola (guard): 5
Josh Fryar (tackle): 5
Zen Michalski (end): 5
Cade Stover (wing): 5

Ohio State made no changes to its placekicking unit against Penn State. Fielding missed his final field goal attempt of the game, a 45-yard kick, for his first missed field goal as a Buckeye after making all of his first nine field goal attempts of the year.

Kickoffs

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 5
Reid Carrico: 5
Caden Curry: 5
Xavier Johnson: 5
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 5
Gabe Powers: 5
Josh Proctor: 5
Cody Simon: 5
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 5
Sonny Styles: 5
Chip Trayanum: 5

Styles Jr., who has played in only three games this year as a potential redshirt, rejoined the kickoff coverage team against Penn State, taking the place of Denzel Burke. The rest of the kickoff unit was unchanged from the Purdue game.

Kickoff Returns

Xavier Johnson (returner): 4
Julian Fleming: 4
Cody Simon: 4
Carnell Tate: 4
David Adolph: 3
Caden Curry: 3
Patrick Gurd: 3
C.J. Hicks: 3
Brandon Inniss: 3
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 3
Chip Trayanum: 3
Jayden Ballard: 1
Ja’Had Carter: 1
Steele Chambers: 1
Tommy Eichenberg: 1
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 1
Cade Stover: 1
Sonny Styles: 1

Styles Jr. took the place of Inniss on Ohio State’s kickoff return lineup to begin the game, but Inniss took the place of Ja’Had Carter after Carter was injured on the Buckeyes’ first kickoff return of the day.

Ohio State’s hands team made its first appearance of the season on Penn State’s onside kick attempt in the final minute of the game. Tate iced the Buckeyes’ victory by cleanly recovering the onside kick attempt; the rest of the hands team consisted of Johnson, Fleming, Simon, Ballard, Chambers, Eichenberg, Harrison, Inniss, Stover and Sonny Styles.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 6
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 6
Tommy Eichenberg (upback): 6
Cody Simon (upback): 6
Gee Scott Jr. (guard): 6
Sonny Styles (guard): 6
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 6
Chip Trayanum (tackle): 6
Cade Stover (wing): 6
Jayden Ballard (gunner): 6
Lorenzo Styles Jr. (gunner): 5
Julian Fleming (gunner): 1

Styles Jr. joined the punt team against Penn State, too, handling gunner duties opposite Ballard for all but one of Mirco’s punts, with Fleming taking the field as the second gunner for the other. Mirco averaged 47.5 yards per punt against the Nittany Lions, highlighted by a 72-yard bomb out of Ohio State’s own end zone in the third quarter.

What a punt @Jesse_Mirco29 x @OhioStateFB

: FOX/@CFBONFOX pic.twitter.com/3QUAfh5LUc

— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) October 21, 2023

Punt Blocks/Returns

Jayden Ballard (returner): 9
Lathan Ransom: 9
Davison Igbinosun: 7
David Adolph: 6
Malik Hartford: 6
C.J. Hicks: 6
Mitchell Melton: 6
Lorenzo Styles Jr: 6
Brandon Inniss: 5
Gee Scott Jr.: 5
Carnell Tate: 5
Jordan Hancock: 4
Steele Chambers: 3
Tommy Eichenberg: 3
Josh Proctor: 3
Jack Sawyer: 3
JT Tuimoloau: 3
Tyleik Williams: 3
Ty Hamilton: 2
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 2
Caden Curry: 1
Patrick Gurd: 1
Mike Hall: 1

Ballard handled punt return duties for the second game in a row, gaining 13 yards on the three punts he attempted to return, in place of the injured Emeka Egbuka. Other changes to the Buckeyes’ primary punt return unit included Inniss, Melton and Styles Jr. taking the places of Jordan Hancock, Reid Carrico and Gabe Powers on that unit.

Ohio State kept its defense on the field to guard against potential fakes on three of Penn State’s nine punts.

Field Goal Block

Tommy Eichenberg: 2
Jordan Hancock: 2
Davison Igbinosun: 2
Josh Proctor: 2
Lathan Ransom: 2
Jack Sawyer: 2
Sonny Styles: 2
JT Tuimoloau: 2
Tyleik Williams: 2
Steele Chambers: 1
Mike Hall: 1
Ty Hamilton: 1
Cody Simon: 1

Ohio State’s players on the field for both of Penn State’s field goals consisted of the players who were on the field for the previous defensive play. The Nittany Lions did not attempt any extra points against the Buckeyes as they went for two (and did not convert) after their only touchdown of the game.