Ohio State’s snap counts in the Cotton Bowl looked significantly different at several offensive positions than its snap counts from its 12 regular-season games.
The differences started at the quarterback position. After Kyle McCord started all 12 regular-season games then transferred to Syracuse, Devin Brown made his first career start but Lincoln Kienholz ended up playing most of the snaps behind center after Brown left the contest with a high ankle sprain.
Elsewhere on offense, Carnell Tate and Xavier Johnson played expanded roles at wide receiver after Marvin Harrison Jr. opted out to preserve his health and Julian Fleming entered the transfer portal.