Oregon got its first taste of Big Ten football last season and set the groundwork for new rivalries in the process. Former Ducks wide receiver Tez Johnson was not quick to move on. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ seventh-round pick carried a few friendly grudges with him to the NFL and poked fun at his new teammates from Penn State, Ohio State and Washington.
Johnson was a critical piece of Oregon’s electric first year in its new conference and paced the receiving corps en route to a perfect regular-season record, Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff berth. He and the Ducks ripped through the Nittany Lions, Buckeyes and Huskies, among other perennial contenders, on their way to a No. 1 national ranking at regular season’s end.
“The d-lineman we got here from Penn State (Dvon J-Thomas), we made a little bet,” Johnson said at Buccaneers training camp. “I told him he’s gonna wear an Oregon jersey when Oregon goes down to Penn State in their whiteout and beat them. So I’m looking forward to that. J-Mac (Jalen McMillan), I told him Washington will never win another championship since they left. So that’s gonna stand. Ohio State gonna get beat again in the championship this year. So I got a lot of receipts that I’m keeping right now. I hold grudges. I’m sorry.”
Johnson’s second year at Oregon, following his transfer from Troy, came with just one hiccup. The Ducks sustained a blowout loss to Ohio State in the CFP quarterfinal game at the Rose Bowl, bringing a shockingly poor end to an otherwise incredible season — one of the best in school history.
That defeat left a bitter taste in Johnson’s mouth.
“Obviously I wanted to win the Rose Bowl, but we came up short,” Johnson said. “We’re going to go back to the Rose Bowl this year. We is. And if it’s Ohio State, we’re going to come at Jeremiah Smith.”
Smith torched the Ducks to the tune of 187 yards and two touchdowns in one of the best games of his remarkable freshman season. He was not the only Ohio State receiver to have his way with the Oregon secondary, as Emeka Egbuka lit up the field with 72 yards and a score of his own.
Just a few months later, Egbuka and Johnson went from college foes to NFL teammates, and the two have had some friendly back-and-forth on the heels of their Rose Bowl clash.
“That’s a rivalry, too,” said Johnson, who caught five passes for 32 yards in the CFP matchup.
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