Former Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson believes gameplan and execution, not player talent, made the difference in Ohio State’s Rose Bowl win over the Ducks.
While Oregon earned a 32-31 win over Ohio State in the regular-season matchup between the two teams, Ohio State dominated the second matchup with the Ducks, rolling to a 41-21 victory in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The Buckeyes held a 34-0 lead in the second quarter before finishing the game with a 20-point advantage.
Johnson, who had seven catches for 75 yards and one touchdown in the first game against Ohio State but only five receptions for 32 yards in the Rose Bowl, felt that the Buckeyes did a better job of scheming things up in the second matchup.
“The first Ohio State game, I felt like they came out there and they wanted to see who can win skill for skill, just let us play. The second game, they kind of played it like, we're going to drop back, we can't hang with these guys skill for skill, so we’re going to try to keep everything in front of us,” Johnson said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “So that's what they did, and for them it worked. So we went out there to that game and we definitely had a really good game plan against those guys, but they executed well.”
Oregon WR Tez Johnson on the Ducks two games against Ohio State: The first Ohio State game, I felt like they came out there and they wanted to see who can win skill for skill, just let us play. The second game, they kind of played it like, we're going to drop back, we can't pic.twitter.com/p9CnoVc7FF
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) February 28, 2025
Ohio State, which leads all schools with 15 players at the combine, would likely disagree with the notion that it couldn’t beat Oregon “skill for skill.” The notion that Ohio State played more conservatively on defense in the second matchup is also questionable, given that Ohio State had eight sacks in the Rose Bowl after notching zero sacks in Eugene.
That said, Johnson isn’t the only Oregon player at the combine who felt game plan and execution made the difference in the Rose Bowl. Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson praised Ohio State’s defensive game plan for making life difficult on the Ducks and felt he and his teammates didn’t do a good enough job for forcing them into mistakes.
“They came up and made tackles when they had to make tackles. When we checked the ball down, they didn't miss tackles and we didn't break tackles,” Ferguson said. “They did a lot of drop eight and a lot of cover two stuff, making us throw it short and take what we could take. They made plays and we didn't.”
“The first Ohio State game, I felt like they came out there and they wanted to see who can win skill for skill, just let us play. The second game, they kind of played it like, we're going to drop back, we can't hang with these guys skill for skill, so we’re going to try to keep everything in front of us.”– Tez Johnson on Oregon’s two games vs. Ohio State
On the other side of the ball, Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad felt Ohio State’s offense found an edge schematically that it didn’t have in the first game.
“I think their speed was pretty good. Obviously we have good speed too, but for some of the plays that we had, they just had a better play at the end of the day,” Muhammad said.
Oregon CB Jabbar Muhammad thinks Ohio States offensive scheme made the difference in the second matchup between the Buckeyes and Ducks: For some of the plays that we had, they just had better plays at the end of the day.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) February 27, 2025
Muhammad said he thinks Carnell Tate is underrated, and pic.twitter.com/YRXBLcJhax
Johnson gave credit to Ohio State for going on to win the national title but felt the Buckeyes’ win over the top-seeded Ducks was the true national championship game.
“Kudos to them, tip my hats to them because they won the national championship. If you beat us that year, you definitely better go win the national championship because that game, I think for sure, was the national championship for us,” Johnson said.
