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Georgia Snap Counts: Closing the Book

A look at the final game showcasing these seniors, two pro-bound juniors, and the John Donovan offense.

By Dan_Smith
Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

It's the final snap counts update of the 2015 season as we wrap things up. I have some things planned for offseason coverage, breaking down the full season look at how playing time changed throughout the year, and how many snaps need to be replaced at certain positions. For now, though, let us take a look at the final game of this season, Penn State's TaxSlayer Bowl loss to Georgia.

Offense

Pos. No. Class Offense Snaps %Snap
LT 73 Junior Paris Palmer 72 100%
C 66 RS Senior Angelo Mangiro 72 100%
RT 59 RS Sophomore Andrew Nelson 72 100%
WR 12 Sophomore Chris Godwin 65 90%
WR 5 RS Sophomore DaeSean Hamilton 64 89%
RG 72 RS Junior Brian Gaia 64 89%
RB 26 Freshman Saquon Barkley 61 85%
TE 87 RS Senior Kyle Carter 50 69%
QB 9 RS Freshman Trace McSorley 47 65%
LG/RG 53 RS Junior Derek Dowrey 40 56%
LG 70 RS Sophomore Brendan Mahon 40 56%
WR 7 RS Junior Geno Lewis 37 51%
TE 11 RS Junior Brent Wilkerson 29 40%
QB 14 Junior Christian Hackenberg 25 35%
WR 13 Sophomore Saeed Blacknall 18 25%
RB 22 RS Junior Akeel Lynch 10 14%
WR 3 RS Freshman DeAndre Thompkins 9 13%
WR 10 Freshman Brandon Polk 7 10%
TE 88 Sophomore Mike Gesicki 7 10%
RB 24 RS Freshman Nick Scott 3 4%

Christian Hackenberg was injured early in the second quarter after scrambling from a broken pocket. He stayed in for a few plays before yielding to Trace McSorley in what ended up being Hackenberg's final game for Penn State.

The wide receiver trend continued from what we saw against Michigan State: more snaps for Geno Lewis and fewer three tight end sets. Consequently there were a limited number of snaps for Mike Gesicki, who may still have been dealing with the effects of an injury that kept him out against the Spartans. Another trend carried over from Michigan State was slightly more snaps for DeAndre Thompkins than Brandon Polk.

On the offensive line, the starters were Palmer-Mahon-Mangiro-Gaia-Nelson.  Derek Dowrey rotated in for both guards at times, but for most of the second half Dowrey replaced Mahon at left guard. Wendy Laurent was notably absent on the offensive line.

Defense

Pos. No. Class Defense Snaps %Snap
MLB 40 Sophomore Jason Cabinda 64 100%
OLB 11 Junior Brandon Bell 64 100%
S 6 RS Junior Malik Golden 64 100%
CB 15 Sophomore Grant Haley 56 88%
S 2 Sophomore Marcus Allen 56 88%
DE 90 RS Sophomore Garrett Sickels 54 84%
DT 98 Senior Anthony Zettel 52 81%
DT 99 RS Junior Austin Johnson 51 80%
CB 29 Freshman John Reid 51 80%
DE 95 Senior Carl Nassib 47 74%
CB 10 Senior Trevor Williams 43 67%
OLB 33 Freshman Jake Cooper 39 61%
DE 19 RS Freshman Torrence Brown 14 22%
DT 91 Senior Tarow Barney 13 20%
S 28 Sophomore Troy Apke 11 17%
DE 94 RS Junior Evan Schwan 10 16%
DT 41 RS Sophomore Parker Cothren 9 14%
DE 52 RS Sophomore Curtis Cothran 3 5%
OLB 43 Freshman Manny Bowen 3 5%

It was surprising to see a full game's worth of snaps for Brandon Bell, who seemed throughout the season to be limited in stamina. While we knew he would see an increased workload with Troy Reeder injured and unable to play, it was unprecedented to see Bell play that much. Jake Cooper played most of the snaps in place of Reeder (with Manny Bowen taking the other three), and was the linebacker who came off the field in all nickel and dime situations.

In the secondary, John Reid surpassed Trevor Williams in snaps for the first time this season, playing with Grant Haley in base defense when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter. Malik Golden was the only safety to play the entire game. Troy Apke rotated in for a couple of series and also played in dime packages. In nickel and dime scenarios, as has been the case since Jordan Lucas was lost for the season, Grant Haley played slot corner.

Bob Shoop also used tighter rotations on the defensive line, with limited usage of his backup players. The only returning starter, Garrett Sickels, led all defensive linemen in snaps. Torrence Brown saw the most snaps of the backups.

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