Snap Counts: 66 Buckeyes See Action As Ohio State Plays Deep Into Bench in Michigan State Blowout

Ohio State began pulling some of its offensive starters at halftime and took all of its starters on offense and defense out of the game by the middle of the fourth quarter, opening the door for backups to play at every position. In total, 66 Buckeyes saw playing time against Michigan State as Ohio State cruised to a 38-3 win in its 10th game of the season.

Thirty-one Buckeyes got in the game on offense and 30 Buckeyes saw action on defense as only five Buckeyes – three of them being specialists Jayden Fielding, Jesse Mirco and John Ferlmann – played on special teams only. The 66 Buckeyes are the second-most to play in a game this year behind only the third game of the season against Western Kentucky, in which 68 Buckeyes appeared.

Four Buckeyes played their first snaps of the entire season against Michigan State: freshman quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, freshman defensive end Joshua Mickens, redshirt freshman defensive back Ryan Turner and walk-on defensive tackle Bryce Prater. Numerous other backups also played their largest snap counts of the season to date in the second-to-last tuneup game, along with the upcoming game against Minnesota, before the Buckeyes conclude the regular season with their biggest test of the year against Michigan.

Our full report on how many snaps every Buckeye played against Michigan State is below. Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics were used to compile offensive and defensive snap counts (with adjustments made for any discrepancies found in film review) 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. (The Buckeyes’ alternate uniforms also made it more difficult to read the players’ numbers than usual, so we had to make our best guesses to identify players on some special teams plays.)

Quarterbacks

Kyle McCord: 56
Lincoln Kienholz: 12

McCord took every snap of the first three quarters and the first three snaps of the fourth quarter, leading the Buckeyes across midfield before exiting the game. He set season-highs with 24 completions for 335 yards on 31 attempts in his three-plus quarters of play.

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With Devin Brown still recovering from an ankle injury that he appeared to aggravate in pregame warmups, Kienholz took Ohio State’s final 12 offensive snaps in the first game appearance of his Buckeye career. Kienholz attempted passes on three of those snaps, completing two of them for 18 yards.

Running Backs

TreVeyon Henderson: 33
Chip Trayanum: 24
Evan Pryor: 10

Henderson was on the field for all but nine of Ohio State’s first-half offensive plays, gaining 74 yards with one touchdown on 15 total touches, but did not play at all in the second half as the Buckeyes chose to manage his load with a win comfortably in hand.

Trayanum mixed in for eight snaps in the first half – with three of those snaps coming in a split-backs formation with Xavier Johnson also lined up in the backfield – and was Ohio State’s running back for the entire third quarter, finishing the night with 45 yards on nine touches.

Pryor made his third game appearance of the season as he replaced Trayanum early in the fourth quarter and was on the field for Ohio State’s final 10 offensive plays, running the ball seven times for 20 yards.

Wide Receivers

Marvin Harrison Jr.: 46
Emeka Egbuka: 41
Julian Fleming: 37
Carnell Tate: 28
Jayden Ballard: 19
Xavier Johnson: 19
Brandon Inniss: 4
David Adolph: 3
Noah Rogers: 3
Bryson Rodgers: 3

Harrison was on the field for every offensive play through Ohio State’s opening drive of the third quarter, catching seven passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns and running for a 19-yard touchdown in the process. Harrison, Egbuka and Fleming played the lion’s share of receiver snaps through that drive, after which all three of them checked out to watch from the sideline for the rest of the night.

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Tate mixed in for some snaps in the first half – including four snaps in a four-receiver set on Ohio State’s final drive before halftime – before playing the majority of the second half with Ballard and Johnson. As mentioned above, Johnson also played some snaps at running back against Michigan State; in five plays where both Johnson and Trayanum were on the field, Johnson touched the ball all five times for a total of 71 yards. Ballard’s 19 snaps were a season-high.

Inniss mixed in for four snaps at slot receiver on Ohio State’s first two drives of the fourth quarter. Adolph, Rogers and Rodgers played their only three offensive snaps of the game on the Buckeyes’ game-ending three-play possession.

Tight Ends

Cade Stover: 29
Gee Scott Jr.: 23
Jelani Thurman: 13
Patrick Gurd: 5

Like Henderson, Stover played only in the first half before watching from the sideline for the entire second half. After missing the Rutgers game with a knee injury, Stover played a season-low 29 snaps but made the most of his playing time, catching seven passes on seven targets – tying his career-high in receptions – for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Scott rotated with Stover and joined him on the field for some two-tight end sets in the first half, then played most of the third quarter. Thurman and Gurd finished out the game at tight end. Thurman made his first two career catches for 18 yards and played more than twice as many snaps than the six combined snaps he played in his first two career appearances against Western Kentucky and Purdue.

Offensive Linemen

Josh Simmons: 62
Donovan Jackson: 62
Matt Jones: 62
Josh Fryar: 62
Carson Hinzman: 52
Enokk Vimahi: 16
Luke Montgomery: 6
Tegra Tshabola: 6
George Fitzpatrick: 3
Zen Michalski: 3
Victor Cutler Jr.: 3
Jakob James: 3

For the first time all season, one of Ohio State’s starting offensive linemen played fewer snaps than the others as Hinzman came out of the game one drive before the rest of the starters. Jones slid over to play 10 snaps at center while Vimahi replaced Jones at right guard for the first-team offensive line’s final drive in the game.

The offensive line for Ohio State’s second-to-last possession of the night consisted of Michalski at left tackle, Tshabola at left guard, Cutler at center, Vimahi at right guard and Montgomery at right tackle. Fitzpatrick replaced Michalski and James replaced Cutler for the game-ending drive.

Defensive Ends

Jack Sawyer: 37
JT Tuimoloau: 37
Caden Curry: 15
Kenyatta Jackson: 11
Mitchell Melton: 6
Omari Abor: 5
Joshua Mickens: 1

Tuimoloau played his lowest snap count of the season to date as he and Sawyer were both on the field for exactly 37 defensive plays in the first three quarters before watching the end of the game from the sidelines. Curry and Jackson also rotated in with the first-team defense as they typically do. 

All four of Ohio State’s top defensive ends were on the field for one 3rd-and-13 play in the second quarter on which the Buckeyes had five defensive linemen on the field with Tyleik Williams at nose tackle, Sawyer lining up inside of Tuimoloau and Curry lining up inside of Jackson for a new-look Rushmen package that Ohio State had not previously used this season.

Melton, Abor and Mickens played all of their snaps in the second half. Abor was on the field opposite Curry or Melton for five of Ohio State’s final six defensive plays with Mickens replacing him on the other for the first snap of his Buckeye career.

Defensive Tackles

Tyleik Williams: 38
Ty Hamilton: 31
Hero Kanu: 11
Mike Hall: 10
Tywone Malone: 6
Jaden McKenzie: 6
Kayden McDonald: 5
Bryce Prater: 1

Hall made his sixth start of the season at defensive tackle but played only on Ohio State’s first two defensive series of the game. It was unclear why Hall left the game early as he did not suffer any obvious injury while in the game.

Williams played the most snaps among defensive tackles for the 10th game in a row to begin the season as he played the majority of snaps at 3-technique until late in the third quarter. Hamilton tied his second-highest snap count of the season as he played most of the snaps at nose tackle for the rest of the first three quarters after Hall’s departure.

Kanu and McKenzie each checked in briefly in the first half before coming back in for more playing time in the second half. Malone and McDonald also played snaps in both the third and fourth quarter, with McDonald burning his freshman-year redshirt by playing in his fifth game of the season. Prater played his first snap of the season on Michigan State’s final possession.

Linebackers

Cody Simon: 49
Steele Chambers: 36
C.J. Hicks: 18
Gabe Powers: 6
Reid Carrico: Special teams only
Arvell Reese: Special teams only

With Tommy Eichenberg sidelined by an arm injury, Simon made his first start of the season and played every snap at Mike linebacker until the fourth quarter, when he was replaced by Powers for Michigan State’s final two possessions. In a season-high 49 snaps, Simon recorded five tackles and a pass breakup.

Chambers started at Will linebacker as he has in every game this season and played into Michigan State’s third possession of the third quarter before being replaced by Hicks, who played a career-high 18 defensive snaps as he finished out the game at Will linebacker, recording two tackles in the process.

Cornerbacks

Jordan Hancock: 41
Davison Igbinosun: 41
Denzel Burke: 31
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 15
Jyaire Brown: 14
Ryan Turner: 14
Calvin Simpson-Hunt: 9

Burke returned to the starting lineup after missing the Rutgers game and played through Ohio State’s first defensive series of the second half before checking out of the game on Michigan State’s subsequent possession. Igbinosun and Hancock remained in the game for 10 more plays, with Hancock starting his third consecutive game at nickel and playing exclusively at that position against Michigan State.

Mathews replaced Burke and was in the game for 15 snaps before apparently jamming his finger on a pass breakup. Simpson-Hunt took Mathews’ place and played the rest of the game at cornerback for the first defensive snaps of his Ohio State career.

Turner saw his first playing time of the season against Michigan State as he played one first-half snap in a dime package and then finished out the game at nickelback after Hancock left the game. Brown played a season-high 14 snaps in his fourth game appearance of the year as he replaced Igbinosun in the third quarter and finished out the game from there at cornerback.

Safeties

Malik Hartford: 49
Sonny Styles: 30
Ja’Had Carter: 26
Kye Stokes: 6

With Josh Proctor sidelined by injury, Hartford made his second start of the season at free safety and played the most snaps in any game of his young career to date. By playing every snap of the first three quarters at free safety, Hartford tied Simon for the most defensive snaps played by any Buckeye against Michigan State.

Styles made his second straight start at strong safety in place of Lathan Ransom, a role he’ll likely continue to play now that Ransom’s injury has been confirmed to be “long-term”. Carter took Styles’ place at strong safety on Michigan State’s second possession of the third quarter and played his second-highest snap count of the season as he played the remainder of the game in the secondary.

After playing in none of Ohio State’s first eight games of the season, Stokes made his second consecutive game appearance as he took Hartford’s place at free safety for Michigan State’s two fourth-quarter possessions.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 7
Jesse Mirco (holder): 7
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 7
Enokk Vimahi (wing/guard): 7
Zen Michalski (end/tackle): 7
Tegra Tshabola (guard): 7
Luke Montgomery (wing/end): 7
Josh Simmons (tackle): 6
Donovan Jackson (guard): 6
Josh Fryar (tackle): 6
Jakob James (end): 6
Victor Cutler Jr. (end): 1
George Fitzpatrick (tackle): 1
Patrick Gurd (wing): 1
Jelani Thurman (wing): 1

Ohio State utilized the same placekicking lineup as it did against Rutgers for all of its five first-half extra points and Fielding’s third-quarter field goal attempt, which he made from 36 yards out. Cutler, Fitzpatrick, Gurd and Thurman took the places of Simmons, Jackson, Fryar and James – with Vimahi, Michalski and Montogmery all moving to different spots on the line in the process – for Fielding’s fourth-quarter field goal attempt, which he missed from 42 yards out.

Kickoffs

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 7
Denzel Burke: 7
Reid Carrico: 7
Ja’Had Carter: 7
Caden Curry: 7
C.J. Hicks: 7
Xavier Johnson: 7
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 7
Gabe Powers: 7
Calvin Simpson-Hunt: 7
Arvell Reese: 4
Chip Trayanum: 3

Burke and Carter rejoined the kickoff coverage unit against Michigan State, replacing Simon and Styles from previous games. Trayanum was on the field for Ohio State’s first three kickoffs of the night but was replaced by Reese for the remainder of the game. Carrico was the lone Buckeye to play exclusively on kickoff coverage against Michigan State.

Kickoff Returns

Xavier Johnson (returner): 2
David Adolph: 2
Ja’Had Carter: 2
Steele Chambers: 2
Caden Curry: 2
Julian Fleming: 2
Patrick Gurd: 2
Brandon Inniss: 2
Arvell Reese: 2
Carnell Tate: 2
Chip Trayanum: 2

Carter, Fleming and Reese replaced Hartford, Hicks and Simon on the kickoff return team from the Rutgers game. Johnson did not return either of Michigan State’s two kickoffs.

Punts

Jesse Mirco (punter): 3
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 3
Caden Curry (upback): 3
Cody Simon (upback): 3
Gee Scott Jr. (guard): 3
Sonny Styles (guard): 3
Xavier Johnson (tackle): 3
Mitchell Melton (wing): 3
Chip Trayanum (tackle): 3
Jayden Ballard (gunner): 3
Jermaine Mathews Jr. (gunner): 2
Calvin Simpson-Hunt (gunner): 1

Curry took the place of Eichenberg at upback in the punt formation against Michigan State. Melton played in place of Stover on the punt team for the second game in a row even though Stover was back in action on offense against the Spartans. Mathews replaced Fleming as a gunner on the punt team, with Simpson-Hunt taking Mathews’ place for the Buckeyes’ only fourth-quarter punt after Mathews left the game.

Punt Blocks/Returns

Jayden Ballard (returner): 8
Davison Igbinosun: 6
Calvin Simpson-Hunt: 6
Brandon Inniss (returner): 5
Malik Hartford: 5
C.J. Hicks: 5
Mitchell Melton: 5
Gabe Powers: 5
Arvell Reese: 5
Cody Simon: 5
Carnell Tate: 5
David Adolph: 4
Denzel Burke: 4
Steele Chambers: 4
Jack Sawyer: 4
JT Tuimoloau: 4
Tyleik Williams: 4
Jyaire Brown: 3
Ty Hamilton: 3
Xavier Johnson: 3
Ryan Turner: 3
Sonny Styles: 3
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 2
Kye Stokes: 2
Ja’Had Carter: 1
Caden Curry: 1
Patrick Gurd: 1
Mike Hall: 1
Kenyatta Jackson: 1
Hero Kanu: 1
Jaden McKenzie: 1

A whopping 31 different players saw action on the punt return/block team against Michigan State as Ohio State kept its defense on the field to play punt safe on five of the Spartans’ 10 punts while the Buckeyes used a variety of lineups on Michigan State’s other five punts.

Ballard served as Ohio State’s primary punt returner for a fifth consecutive game and gained 11 yards on his only return attempt of the night. Inniss played three snaps on the punt block team in the second and third quarter, then replaced Ballard at punt returner to field Michigan State’s final two punts of the night, which were booted by former Ohio State walk-on Michael O’Shaughnessy.

Field Goal Block

Denzel Burke: 2
Steele Chambers: 2
Jordan Hancock: 2
Malik Hartford: 2
Davison Igbinosun: 2
Cody Simon: 2
Sonny Styles: 2
JT Tuimoloau: 2
Tyleik Williams: 2
Mike Hall: 1
Hero Kanu: 1
Kenyatta Jackson: 1
Jack Sawyer: 1

Hall and Sawyer were on the field for Michigan State’s first field goal attempt, which Jonathan Kim missed from 56 yards out, while Kanu and Jackson were in the game for Kim’s second field goal attempt, which he made from 53 yards away.