Snap Counts: 62 Buckeyes See Playing Time in Ohio State's 62-39 Rout of Michigan

Ohio State played the same number of players as it scored points on Saturday against Michigan.

A total of 62 Ohio State players saw the field for the Buckeyes as they rolled to a 62-39 victory over the Wolverines on Saturday.

Running back Mike Weber and linebacker Baron Browning both returned to action for Ohio State after missing the previous game at Maryland with injuries, while true freshmen L’Christian “Blue” Smith and Tyler Friday both saw a bit of playing time against Michigan as well after not playing against the Terrapins.

True freshman linebacker K’Vaughan Pope was the only Buckeye who played against Maryland that did not take the field against the maize and blue.

As Ohio State put together several quick touchdown drives (and scored a touchdown on a block punt), several members of the Buckeyes’ defense played career-high snaps on Saturday, including defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones (78), linebacker Malik Harrison (86) and safeties Jordan Fuller (86) and Brendon White (83).

We take a look at the playing time for all 62 Buckeyes who played on Saturday in this week’s edition of Snap Counts.

All snap counts listed were compiled by Eleven Warriors data analyst Matt Gutridge and should be considered unofficial, as Ohio State does not make its official snap counts public. It is not always possible to see all 11 players on the field from TV broadcast angles, particularly on special teams plays, so exact special teams snap counts are not included and offensive and defensive snap counts could potentially differ from those tracked by Ohio State’s coaches.

Quarterbacks

Dwayne Haskins: 67
Tate Martell: 4

For the third week in a row, Ohio State substituted Martell into the game for occasional packages, with all four of his plays against Michigan coming on goal-to-go plays in the red zone. That said, Haskins continued to play the vast majority of the Buckeyes’ snaps, throwing for 396 yards and six touchdowns against the Wolverines to earn his record-breaking sixth Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season.

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Running Backs

Mike Weber: 40
J.K. Dobbins: 31
Demario McCall: 2

Dobbins started Saturday’s game for the Buckeyes, and McCall was actually the second running back to enter the game against Michigan, checking in for one snap on the Buckeyes’ opening drive. That said, Weber returned to his regular role in the rotation – alternating series with Dobbins – after missing the Buckeyes’ previous game against Maryland with a quad bruise.

Wearing No. 5 instead of his usual No. 25, Weber played the most snaps of any Ohio State running back for the fourth time this season. McCall only played one more offensive snap after the Buckeyes’ opening drive, but took advantage of that opportunity, catching a pass on a wheel route and turning it into a 33-yard gain.

Wide Receivers

Johnnie Dixon: 49
Terry McLaurin: 40
Parris Campbell: 38
K.J. Hill: 35
Binjimen Victor: 29
Chris Olave: 17
L'Christian “Blue” Smith: 1
Ellijah Gardiner: Special teams only
C.J. Saunders: Special teams only

Dixon led Ohio State’s wide receivers in snaps played for the third week in a row, as he continued to play the bulk of snaps at the Z receiver position while McLaurin lined up at X. Campbell and Hill continued to split snaps in the slot, and were on the field together for a quartet of four-receiver sets.

Victor continued to rotate in at X, while Olave rotated in at Z. Olave played the least snaps among the six receivers in the rotation, as he has every week since joining the rotation, but he made the most of them, catching two touchdown passes.

Smith saw playing time on offense for just the second time all season, checking in for one play to block for a screen pass to Mike Weber on 1st-and-goal from the 3-yard line.

Tight Ends

Luke Farrell: 52
Rashod Berry: 11
Jeremy Ruckert: 10
Jake Hausmann: Special teams only

As has been the case since the Buckeyes’ eighth game of the season at Purdue, Farrell played the vast majority of snaps at tight end against Michigan, but Berry and Ruckert each saw occasional playing time as well (with all of Ruckert’s coming in the fourth quarter).

Unlike previous games, the Buckeyes didn’t use many multi-tight end sets against Michigan, only doing so with Farrell and Ruckert on their final six-play possession of the game.

Offensive Linemen

Thayer Munford: 71
Malcolm Pridgeon: 71
Michael Jordan: 71
Isaiah Prince: 71
Demetrius Knox: 67
Wyatt Davis: 4
Joshua Alabi: Special teams only
Gavin Cupp: Special teams only
Josh Myers: Special teams only
Kevin Woidke: Special teams only

Four of Ohio State’s five starting offensive linemen played every one of the Buckeyes’ offensive snaps against Michigan, with Munford at left tackle, Pridgeon at left guard, Jordan at center and Prince at right tackle. As pointed out by The Athletic’s Bill Landis, Ohio State also experimented with an unbalanced line formation – and it worked – as the Buckeyes put Prince on the left side of the line alongside Munford for one play, then ran a fly sweep away from them that Parris Campbell took for a 78-yard touchdown.

Davis substituted in for Knox for two plays at right guard midway through the fourth quarter, then was forced to replace Knox in the lineup for the game’s final two plays after Knox was carted off the field. With Knox expected to miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury in his foot, Davis is in line to start his first game in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern.

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Defensive Ends

Chase Young: 72
Jonathon Cooper: 65
Jashon Cornell: 14
Tyreke Smith: 12
Tyler Friday: 4

Ohio State made no drastic changes to its defensive end rotation on Saturday. Young and Cooper continued to both play most of the snaps, while Cornell, Smith and Friday each saw occasional snaps in the rotation. As he has all year, Smith also played three snaps inside as a defensive tackle in the Buckeyes’ “Rushmen” pass-rushing package.

Defensive Tackles

Dre’Mont Jones: 78
Robert Landers: 37
Davon Hamilton: 31
Tommy Togiai: 10
Haskell Garrett: 8
Taron Vincent: 8

Jones was on the field for all but eight of Ohio State’s defensive snaps on Saturday, playing a career-high 78 snaps in the process. Garrett was the only player to substitute into the game for Jones, who typically lines up as a 3-technique defensive tackle but also plays defensive end when the Buckeyes deploy a three-man front.

Landers and Hamilton rotated regularly at the nose tackle spot against Michigan, as they usually do, with Togiai also checking in for some snaps at that position.

Vincent was not in the base defense rotation at defensive tackle, but did play seven snaps at nose tackle in the Buckeyes’ 3-3-5 defense as well as one snap of goal-line defense.

Dre'Mont Jones (86) played all but eight defensive snaps against Michigan on Saturday.

Linebackers

Malik Harrison: 86
Pete Werner: 74
Tuf Borland: 60
Dante Booker: 12
Baron Browning: 7
​Dallas Gant: Special teams only
Justin Hilliard: Special teams only
Keandre Jones: Special teams only
Teradja Mitchell: Special teams only

Harrison played every one of Ohio State’s defensive snaps for the fourth week in a row against Michigan, and had what head coach Urban Meyer described as “arguably his best game as a Buckeye” in the process.

Booker substituted in for Werner at the other outside linebacker spot on two series, marking the fourth time in four games that Booker was rotated in for occasional playing time on defense.

Browning, in his first game back after missing two games due to injury, played exclusively in the 3-3-5 defense against Michigan, with Borland playing all the snaps at middle linebacker in the base defense.

Cornerbacks

Kendall Sheffield: 68
Jeffrey Okudah: 59
Damon Arnette: 43
Shaun Wade: 29
Sevyn Banks: Special teams only

Arnette started opposite Sheffield at cornerback as he has in every game but one this season, but Okudah ended up playing the second-most snaps at the position behind Sheffield against Michigan. Per usual, those three cornerbacks rotated throughout the game at the outside cornerback position. Wade played all 26 snaps at slot cornerback in the Buckeyes’ nickel packages, along with three snaps at safety.

Safeties

Jordan Fuller: 86
Brendon White: 83
Josh Proctor: Special teams only
Isaiah Pryor: Special teams only
Amir Riep: Special teams only
Jahsen Wint: Special teams only

Fuller played every snap at safety for the eighth time this season against Michigan, while White played all but three snaps alongside him, with Wade substituting into his place for just three plays in the second quarter.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Drue Chrisman (holder)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Luke Farrell (blocker)
Joshua Alabi (blocker)
Wyatt Davis (blocker)
Josh Myers (blocker)
Davon Hamilton (blocker)
Gavin Cupp (blocker)
Kevin Woidke (blocker)
Rashod Berry (blocker)

Ohio State made no changes to its placekicking unit against Michigan, with Haubeil handling field goal and extra point duties as he did for every game in the second half of Ohio State’s regular season.

Kickoffs

Blake Haubeil (kicker)
Baron Browning (gunner)
Teradja Mitchell (gunner)
Amir Riep (gunner)
Isaiah Pryor (gunner)
K.J. Hill or Chris Olave (gunner)
Keandre Jones (gunner)
Jahsen Wint (gunner)
Josh Proctor (gunner)
Justin Hilliard (gunner)
Ellijah Gardner (gunner)

With his reduced role on defense, Browning returned to the kickoff coverage unit against Michigan, replacing K’Vaughan Pope. The rest of the Buckeyes’ kickoff unit remained unchanged from the previous game against Maryland.

Kickoff Returns

Demario McCall (returner/blocker)
C.J. Saunders (returner/blocker)
Teradja Mitchell (blocker)
Justin Hilliard (blocker)
Jake Hausmann (blocker)
Amir Riep (blocker)
L’Christian “Blue” Smith or Sevyn Banks (blocker)
Keandre Jones (blocker)
Dallas Gant (blocker)
Jahsen Wint (blocker)
Josh Proctor (blocker)

After replacing Johnnie Dixon as Ohio State’s lead kickoff returner midway through the previous game at Maryland, McCall remained in that role throughout Saturday’s game against Michigan – even after muffing a kickoff in the end zone that gave the Wolverines the ball at the 9-yard line. Saunders took McCall’s previous place in the lineup as the secondary kickoff returner.

Smith took Ellijah Gardiner’s place on the kickoff return unit as a blocker this week, with Sevyn Banks checking in to play in Smith’s place in the fourth quarter. Riep took Brendon White’s place in the lineup. The rest of the unit remained the same from the previous game at Maryland.

Punts

Drue Chrisman (punter)
Liam McCullough (long snapper)
Teradja Mitchell (upback)
Tuf Borland (upback)
Malik Harrison (guard)
Justin Hilliard (guard)
Dante Booker (tackle)
Isaiah Pryor (tackle)
Pete Werner (wing)
Terry McLaurin (gunner)
Jeffrey Okudah (gunner)

Pryor was a new addition to the punt team against Michigan, replacing Parris Campbell. Werner moved up to play along the line of scrimmage after playing as an upback in front of the punter in previous weeks. The rest of the lineup remained the same from previous weeks, with Okudah taking all the snaps at gunner opposite McLaurin instead of splitting reps with Chris Olave.

Punt Blocks/Returners

K.J. Hill (returner)
Damon Arnette (rusher/blocker)
Amir Riep (rusher/blocker)
Isaiah Pryor (rusher/blocker)
Sevyn Banks (rusher/blocker)
Keandre Jones (rusher/blocker)
Chris Olave (rusher/blocker)
Jahsen Wint (rusher/blocker)
Shaun Wade (rusher/blocker)
Justin Hilliard (rusher/blocker)
Dante Booker (rusher/blocker)

Pryor was added to the punt block/return team against Michigan, replacing Teradja Mitchell from the previous week. The rest of the lineup remained unchanged from the previous game against Maryland.