Inspired by a slew of penalties and one of the sloppiest quarters in recent Oregon football memory, head coach Dan Lanning was adamant that his team didn’t play its best brand of play despite its 63-19 win over California on Nov. 4.
“I think we put ourselves in some tough positions at times,” Lanning said. “We didn’t play to our standard of play, certainly in the first half.”
He went on to say that his Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) showed “flashes of what we can really be” in the second half. If a team is scoring 63 points on a day where it’s not at its best, it’s scary to think what the No. 6 Oregon Ducks’ top form would look like.
Undoubtedly, it would involve wide receiver Tez Johnson having a day like he did against Cal.
Johnson reeled in 12 receptions for 180 yards and two scores as Oregon handed the Golden Bears their sixth loss of the season.
His dozen receptions, the most in a single game by an Oregon receiver since 2018, led to Johnson having more receiving yards than the entire Golden Bears offense had all game.
“He was part of our plan to be able to hit some three-level routes, [and] to be able to execute some stuff with him with his speed across the field,” Lanning said. “He’s a hard guy to cover. If you decide to go man, he creates matchup issues with the speed that he has. That’s something we want to continue to figure out how to use in the passing game to create a weapon for us.”
Johnson has been quite the weapon for the Oregon offense. On the season, he now has 46 receptions for 599 yards and six touchdowns. He’s recorded two multi-score games this season against Cal and Hawaii. He’s averaging 13 yards per reception and his blazing speed is showcased every week.
Despite his incredible performance, Johnson echoed the words of his coach post-game. “We didn’t have our best day,” Johnson said. “[There are] 63 points on that board but we didn’t have our best day as an offense. What did we have? 90 some yards over nine penalties? That’s not us. That’s not who we are as a team.”
If there is a team that can overcome so many penalties, Oregon tallied 99 penalty yards in the win, it’s this Ducks team. The offensive firepower has been demonstrated time after time, and the defense has established that it can hang with any offense in the country.
The ability to overcome adversity isn’t a trait solely attributed to Oregon. Even Johnson’s big day got off to a horrid start. A pass from Bo Nix on the first play from scrimmage tripped off Johnson’s hands and found its way into a Cal defender’s hands for an interception.
Only a few drives later, Johnson was involved in a fluke snap that ended up as a scoop-and-score for the Golden Bears. It would have been all too easy for Johnson to hang his head. Instead, he hung 180 and two scores on Cal.
“We can’t let one play mess up the whole day,” Johnson said. “That’s basically what we just talked about and ran with throughout the whole game. There [were] multiple bad plays out there, but it’s the way we respond to each play.”
Johnson responded in a big way. Not only on offense, but on special teams, too. He had 75 punt-return yards to put his all-purpose yards total to 255. Highlighted by a 47-yard punt return late in the first half that led to an Oregon touchdown in the closing seconds, Johnson more than made up for any previous blunders.
Still, it seems as though every time Johnson touches the football, audiences are reminded that he’s Nix’s adoptive brother.
It might be time for that narrative to end. Johnson is having an incredible season, is putting up insane numbers and is contributing to his team more than many thought he might when he transferred from Troy at the end of last season.
Johnson has nothing left to prove. He’s no longer just Nix’s adoptive brother. He’s one of his best weapons.
