Oregon On Bye: Tez Johnson Is Back As The Ducks Offense Tries To Get Right

By SPENCER McLAUGHLIN
Contributor, 750 The Game

Oregon WR Tez Johnson announced via his Instagram that he’s back for the Ducks’ offense. Dan Lanning’s team is on a bye this week and it is certainly coming at a phenomenal time.

The Ducks are 11-0 and have just completed an 8-game stretch in which they played a B1G opponent every single week. I’ve had Oregon fans ask me if that’s unfair and a reflection of the Ducks’ being new to the conference. Is it a “welcome to the B1G” moment? No, it seems to be just how the schedule worked out.

I encountered plenty of Duck fans who were lamenting this reality after Oregon’s 16-13 slugfest in Madison against Wisconsin. Why is Oregon the only team playing 8 straight league games? How come the Badgers were at home off a bye?

The last team to play 8 straight B1G games was Ohio State–in 2023 (AKA last season). It’s easy sometimes to latch onto borderline (or not so borderline) conspiracy theories about conference operations and officiating. Ohio State’s 8-game stretch ended with a road game at Michigan. Was the B1G trying to screw the Buckeyes? I doubt it, since they’re the most-watched TV product the league has every year. As long as this doesn’t happen again next year, the schedule situation appears to me to have been a one-off that just happens in the rotating world of football schedules.

Which leads us to what coaches prefer to describe as a “work week” rather than a bye week. Both are how the Oregon’s locker room should be approaching their lack of an opponent come Saturday with Washington looming next week. 

Getting WR Tez Johnson back is good news for the offense. Dillon Gabriel was exceptional against Michigan after Johnson went down, but in the 2 games that followed he has had his worst 2-game stretch to date as Oregon’s QB. He was under 200 yards passing against Maryland and didn’t account for a touchdown against Wisconsin while throwing 1 interception (should have been two). He made some big plays, like the 4th and 9 throw to Terrance Ferguson to begin the 4th quarter after Camp Randall Stadium erupted for “Jump Around” on the heels of a huge upset. Still, he hasn’t looked like himself in the last 2 games and perhaps the “work week” is a great chance to get right in time for the stretch run.

By the way, does Dan Lanning know his team or what? We see on ‘Ducks vs Them’ each week how well he motivates that locker room, and last week’s edition allowed Oregon to piggyback off of Wisconsin’s own home field tradition to be at their best when it was required.

On the bye week aspect of the next few days, Tez Johnson isn’t the only injury I’m hoping the Ducks can get good news on. Jordan Burch didn’t play against Wisconsin, and we saw his impact as he created a touchdown against Maryland the week prior. Oregon struggled to get a pass rush last year in the Pac-12 Championship game against Washington when he went out with an injury. He’s missed a couple games this year, and Oregon’s defensive line has managed to thrive anyway. Matayo Uiagalelei is a big reason why.

The injury I’m waiting for news on is OL Marcus Harper. Since he went out against Michigan, his impact has been felt by this Oregon offense. The running game has been solid, but not as consistent or explosive as it can be as they’ve shuffled around 3 different guards at the two starting slots. Dillon Gabriel’s struggles last week were in part due to the fact that he was under a good amount of pressure. Wisconsin did some sharp things defensively, but it felt more like the Oregon offensive lines from Idaho and Boise State than the one that didn’t allow a sack against Ohio State or Michigan.

Bye week. Work week. Call it whatever you like, Oregon is 11-0 and should be able to take care of a 6-5 Washington team next week no matter what injury news comes down in the next 7-10 days. But to reach that ultimate goal, you sure would like to be able to put your best, healthiest foot forward.

Spencer McLaughlin is an Oregon Ducks football contributor to 750 The Game. He also hosts the “Locked On Oregon Ducks” and “Locked On College Football” podcasts and has work featured throughout the season here.