Snap Counts: Ohio State Plays Deep Into Bench In 70-0 Rout of Grambling State

While Ohio State used just 17 players on offense and 18 players on defense in the season opener, the Buckeyes got 38 players in the game on offense and 35 players in the game on defense as they rolled to a 70-0 victory over their FCS opponent in Week 2.

Ohio State played to at least the third row of its depth chart at every position as its starters were done for the day after Riley Pettijohn scooped up a Grambling State fumble and returned it for a touchdown on GSU’s first offensive play of the second half to make it a 42-0 game. No Buckeye on either side of the ball played more than 34 total snaps; backup wide receiver Mylan Graham finished the day with the most total snaps among all players after seeing no action vs. Texas.

We take a closer look below at how Ohio State distributed playing time across all offensive and defensive position groups against Grambling State. Snap counts are courtesy of Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics. (Note: Special teams snaps are not included as they had not been posted by PFF as of Monday morning.)

Quarterbacks

Julian Sayin: 32
Lincoln Kienholz: 22
Tavien St. Clair: 13

Sayin played every snap of the first half and was nearly flawless in his second career start, completing 18 of 19 passing attempts for 306 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.

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Kienholz played the entire third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter as Ohio State’s No. 2 quarterback. He completed six of seven passing attempts for 71 yards and his first career touchdown pass and had two carries for 10 yards.

St. Clair replaced Kienholz midway through Ohio State’s opening drive of the fourth quarter and quarterbacked the offense for the remainder of the game. The true freshman, who’s the Buckeyes’ No. 3 QB, did not complete a pass in his Ohio State debut.

Running Backs

James Peoples: 21
Bo Jackson: 17
CJ Donaldson: 17
Isaiah West: 10
Sam Dixon: 3

While Donaldson started and played a majority of snaps at running back against Texas, Peoples started and played the most snaps among RBs against Grambling State. That said, Peoples played into the second half with the backups whereas Donaldson played only in the first half with the first-team offense.

Peoples ran for 59 yards on eight carries while Donaldson ran for 45 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

Jackson tied Donaldson for the second-most snaps among running backs in his Ohio State debut and was the Buckeyes’ leading rusher against Grambling, running for 108 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries. West also made his Ohio State debut against GSU and ran the ball eight times for 42 yards and a touchdown. Dixon ran the ball on all three of his snaps in the game and went for nine yards and a touchdown.

Wide Receivers

Mylan Graham: 34
Carnell Tate: 31
Jeremiah Smith: 30
Quincy Porter: 25
Brandon Inniss: 16
Bryson Rodgers: 14
Phillip Bell: 12
David Adolph: 9

After Smith, Tate and Inniss were the only wide receivers to play against Texas, Ohio State rotated in five backup wideouts against Grambling. Tate, Smith and Inniss each played only in the first half, though that was plenty of time for all of them to make plays; Smith had five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns, Tate had five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown and Inniss had three catches for 29 yards.

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Graham played the most snaps of any Buckeye in Week 2 and had a 23-yard reception, the first of his Ohio State career. Rodgers (two catches for 22 yards) and Adolph (one catch for eight yards) also got on the board in their first offensive snaps of the season. Porter and Bell made their Ohio State debuts against Grambling but did not make any catches.

Tight Ends

Jelani Thurman: 32
Nate Roberts: 25
Max Klare: 20
Will Kacmarek: 9
Brody Lennon: 6
Bennett Christian: 4

Klare started the game at tight end but played only the third-most snaps among TEs for a second straight week to start the season – though in this case, that had more to do with Ohio State giving Thurman and Roberts extended playing time in the second half, as Klare played more snaps than Kacmarek and Christian, the tight ends who played the most snaps against Texas.

Kacmarek played only nine snaps against Grambling but made a big impact within them, scoring a 47-yard touchdown on Ohio State’s opening drive. Thurman (three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown), Klare (one catch for seven yards) and Christian (one catch for one yard) also had receptions, marking just the third time four Ohio State tight ends have caught passes in the same game.

Offensive Linemen

Austin Siereveld: 32
Luke Montgomery: 32
Carson Hinzman: 32
Phillip Daniels: 32
Tegra Tshabola: 26
Ethan Onianwa: 26
Ian Moore: 20
Gabe VanSickle: 20
Joshua Padilla: 20
Justin Terry: 20
Carter Lowe: 15
Jake Cook: 15
Jayvon McFadden: 15
Deontae Armstrong: 15
Isaiah Kema: 11
Simon Lorentz: 4

Ohio State used the same starting offensive line as it did against Texas with Siereveld at left tackle, Montgomery at left guard, Hinzman at center, Tshabola at right guard and Daniels at right tackle. Like the Texas game, Onianwa subbed in at right guard for one drive with the first-team offense in place of Tshabola.

The second-team offensive line took over at the start of the second half and consisted of Moore at left tackle, VanSickle at left guard, Padilla at center, Onianwa at right guard and Terry at right tackle. Ohio State gave its third-team offensive line a chance to get reps in the fourth quarter with Lowe at left tackle, Cook at left guard, Kema at center, McFadden at right guard and Armstrong at right tackle. Lorentz, a walk-on, replaced Kema at center for the Buckeyes’ final four offensive snaps.

Defensive Ends

Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 26
Caden Curry: 25
Joshua Mickens: 17
Beau Atkinson: 11
Dominic Kirks: 11
Zion Grady: 9
Epi Sitanilei: 9
C.J. Hicks: 8

Despite leaving the Texas game early with an undisclosed injury, Jackson started and played the most snaps among defensive ends against Grambling State. Jackson and Curry each played most of the first-half snaps at defensive end, with Atkinson and Hicks rotating in occasionally, but checked out for the day after Riley Pettijohn’s scoop-and-score on the first play of the second half.

Mickens, Kirks, Grady and Sitanilei all made their season debuts, with Sitanilei and Grady making their Ohio State debuts, as they rotated at defensive end throughout the second half. Grady recorded a sack and Sitanilei recovered a fumble in their first game as Buckeyes. 

Defensive Tackles

Jarquez Carter: 19
Kayden McDonald: 18
Will Smith Jr.: 18
Tywone Malone Jr.: 13
Eric Mensah: 12
Eddrick Houston: 10
Trajen Odom: 7

McDonald and Houston started as they did against Texas, but each of them played fewer than 20 snaps as the Buckeyes got their depth plenty of reps behind them. Smith and Malone were the first defensive tackles off the bench as they were against the Longhorns, but Carter ended up playing the most snaps among DTs as he saw action in 3-technique in both halves.

Mensah and Odom played their first snaps of the season, with Odom making his Ohio State debut, with the backups in the second half.

Linebackers

Payton Pierce: 25
Arvell Reese: 22
Sonny Styles: 20
Garrett Stover: 17
Riley Pettijohn: 15
Tarvos Alford: 13
Eli Lee: 6
Joey Velazquez: 3

After relying mostly on Reese and Styles against Texas, Ohio State rotated Pierce in regularly with the first-team defense against Grambling State, resulting in the sophomore playing the most snaps among linebackers even though Styles and Reese started the game. Pierce also led the Buckeyes with six tackles against Grambling.

Pettijohn was the fourth linebacker into the game and made a huge impact in his first 15 defensive snaps as a Buckeye, returning a fumble for a touchdown and forcing a separate fumble while also recording two tackles and a pass breakup.

Stover, Alford, Velazquez and Lee all played their first defensive snaps of the season in the second half. Stover played the fourth-most snaps among linebackers and recorded three tackles, while true freshmen Lee and Alford each made two tackles. 

Cornerbacks

Davison Igbinosun: 32
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 32
Devin Sanchez: 23
Aaron Scott Jr.: 23
Bryce West: 17
Miles Lockhart: 1

Igbinosun and Mathews played the entirety of the first half and the first snap of the second half as Ohio State’s primary cornerbacks before Sanchez and Scott took their place for the remainder of the game. Mathews also played a few snaps inside at nickel cornerback with Sanchez taking his place outside with the first-team defense.

West played most of the second half at nickelback before moving to outside cornerback for the end of the game. Lockhart entered at slot cornerback for one play late in the fourth quarter for the first defensive snap of his Ohio State career.

Safeties

Jaylen McClain: 32
Caleb Downs: 31
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 28
Faheem Delane: 23
Malik Hartford: 22
Leroy Roker III: 7

Downs and McClain played every snap of the first half with McClain also playing the first snap of the second half. Styles was on the field for all but three plays in the first half but did not play in the second half with the game well-decided.

Delane played the rest of the game at strong safety in place of McClain, recording two tackles in his defensive debut as a Buckeye, while Hartford played all but two second-half snaps in his first defensive action of the season. Roker mixed in to play in some three-safety looks during the second half for his first defensive snaps as a Buckeye.