Despite Rose Bowl, ex-Oregon player thinks Oregon and Ohio State were evenly matched
The Ohio State football team blew out Oregon in the Rose Bowl. It was a game that was never close, as the Buckeyes scored the first 34 points and won the game 41-21. It was a game which the Buckeyes showed that they were the best team in the country when they played to their potential.
It was nice for the Buckeyes to get some revenge after losing in the regular season to the Ducks. In that game, Ohio State lost by just a single point on the road. It was as close as the game could possibly have been. Had that game been at a neutral site, things may have been different.
Despite the Ohio State Buckeyes smashing the Ducks in that Rose Bowl, one former player thinks that Ohio State wasn’t better than the Ducks. In fact, he thinks the talent was even. He just thinks that the Buckeyes had a better game plan and were better prepared for the game.
Tez Johnson says the Ohio State football team wasn’t better than Oregon
Speaking at the NFL Combine, former Oregon receiver Tez Johnson doesn’t think that Ohio State was better than the Ducks. He claims they just executed their game plan better.
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
The fact that he thinks the teams were equal “skill for skill” is crazy. Ohio State could have scored 60 points if they wanted to in the Rose Bowl. They clearly just took their foot off the gas and coasted to victory because they knew they needed to save their energy for the Cotton Bowl.
Ohio State would go on to defeat Texas and Notre Dame in order to win the national championship. That proved that they were the best team in the country. Oregon had a good season, but they couldn’t win the biggest game they played when it mattered.
Johnson is just wrong with his comments. Had the first game been at Ohio State, the Buckeyes likely would have won that game. The main reason Oregon won that game is because they were able to play it at home. If it was a night game at the Shoe, things would have been different.
