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UO HAS CONFIDENCE IN ITS BACKUP PLAN.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

It was a rather routine play, even for a practice. Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon had gained a few yards on a scramble when he went into a protective slide.

Offensive teammates cheered, and center Enoka Lucas helped Dixon up with a word of approval. Even defenders clapped. A couple of assistant coaches gave Dixon a pat on the helmet.

`It made me smile, too,' UO coach Mike Bellotti said.

Now the starting quarterback for the Ducks, Dixon had put discretion ahead of valor by avoiding the hit from potential tacklers and going to the ground as he might have in his days as a baseball player arriving safely at second base. A quarterback who has always fought for every yard in his limited playing time seemed to realize there would be another play to make, and no need to risk an injury for relatively insignificant yardage.

What a departure, and good reason for the Ducks to rejoice. It was one sign that there was an evolution under way, part of it the education of a reserve quarterback recognizing his overall importance to his team. Just one of those things a backup quarterback has to do to prove he's worthy of being the leader in that offensive huddle.

`Everybody has to get used to a different guy running things,' Ryan Perry-Smith said of going from No. 2 to starting quarterback. `But you also have to earn their respect.'

Perry-Smith is the most recent Oregon quarterback to be in a position similar to what Dixon now faces, replacing Kellen Clemens for the final three games of this regular season and a bowl game. In 1996, it was Perry-Smith who started five games for the...

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