Oregon Tight End Jamari Johnson Shares Reaction to Teitum Tuioti Injury

The No. 23 Oregon Ducks beat the then-ranked No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes, but the win came with a cost for the Ducks as Oregon coach Dan Lanning announced that outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti will miss the rest of the season after a knee injury suffered against Ohio State required surgery.

As one of the more experienced leaders of the Ducks defense, the loss of Tuioti was felt on the offensive side of the ball as well, and not because of his fake punt pass to felllow outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei on Saturday.

oregon ducks jamari johnson ohio state buckeyes michigan wolverines jay johnson tight end dan lanning dylan raiola — Oregon outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti is helped off the field as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Nov. 7, 2026, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Jamari Johnson on Teitum Tuioti

Oregon tight end Jamari Johnson spoke to the media on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and he shared his reaction to Tuioti's injury.

"It brought a tear to my eye, man, to see this guy working every day and just to see it taken away from him in the snap of a finger. It was emotional, and I'm praying for my guy," said Johnson.

Both Tuioti and Johnson were involved in key trick plays against the Buckeyes. While Tuioti found Uiagalelei on a perfect pass to execute the fake punt inside Oregon's own territory, Johnson lined up under center and executed a quarterback sneak on the goal line at the end of the first half. With only two seconds on the clock during Johnson's touchdown, it was likely the final play of the half whether or not he reached the end zone.

See what Johnson had to say about that play as well as the rest of his takeaways from the win over the Buckeyes:

Everything Jamari Johnson Said

On the Quarterback Sneak

"Yeah, we've been practicing that for a little while. And Poncho been telling me to don't be scared to get up under there. And I was like,’All right, I got you.’ But once I heard it was getting called, I just knew we just got to execute it."

Pressure of the Trick Play

"Yeah, it wasn't nothing different or scary about it. It was a do-or-die moment, and we chose to do."

Responding to Adversity

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"It happened because we chose to make that decision. We chose this season. It hasn't been going our way, and we decided to flip things around and to just bring as much problems as we could to other teams that we got coming up."

Importance of Bringing Back Jeremiah McClellan

"Very. All of our receivers, it's an honor to have them on the field with me. And to see that three back out there, man, it was a good feeling."

On the Offense’s Positive Momentum

"It's been good to back like usual, get the offense rolling, and it feels great to put the ball in the end zone. We just got to keep doing that, stay on that track."

Responding to Early Dropped Pass vs. Ohio State

"That's crazy that you brought that up because I talked about this with Dante (Moore) on the sideline because Dante, he knows me pretty well. And once he saw me drop that pass, I was kind of in my head because, like, it's a five-yard route and I dropped it. And it kind of upset me. But like we say on the O-line, flash stick and really just get my head back in the game and just stay level-headed."

His Connection With Dylan Raiola

"He's grown as a player these last past couple games as we all seen and he's got us rolling on the right track and our Our chemistry has been been great That's my guy man And we just gone was gonna keep it rolling and you know, that's all I got."

What Pops Out on Michigan’s Defense

"Their whole defense pops out to me. They have a great defense, and it starts with their guys up front. And we've been we've been studying them and we're going to keep studying them and they have they have some great players, so their whole defense is pretty good."

Kendre Harrison’s Progress

"Yeah, he stepped up. Andrew (Olesh) was out for a little bit, and Kendre stepped in to dominate the role, and that's what he did. They called his number. Once his number was called, he accepted his opportunity and rolled with it."

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