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Dixon's time to shine.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2006

Once a receiver, Dennis Dixon was literally thrown into playing quarterback.

`It wasn't a position I liked,' he said of that introduction.

Always a baseball player, he still considers a future in that sport.

`It's always going to be on my mind,' the Oregon junior said. `When I graduate from here, I'm still going to be young. I think about playing baseball, later on down the road.'

For now, it's all football, and it's all about being Oregon's starting quarterback when the 21st-ranked Ducks open the season Saturday at Autzen Stadium against Stanford.

If initially reluctant to play the position, Dixon is now attempting to take his place in the long line of Oregon quarterbacks who have carved out their own niche in Duck history, from Van Brocklin through Fouts and Miller, a trio who did it on their way to success as professionals, the level where seven of the past eight starting quarterbacks at Oregon have ended up.

If once unsure enough about which sport he played best that he delayed his enrollment at Oregon to give baseball a last go, Dixon now has the aspirations to follow in the legacy of Crabtree and Musgrave and O'Neil, a trio who quarterbacked the Ducks to breakout success in their college careers.

It is his turn, and his time, however it came to pass along the road to playing the position, opting for football over baseball and choosing the Ducks, where it has gone from three quarterbacks in his recruiting class to two of them sharing the position for part of last season to Dixon being the one who runs the Oregon huddle, takes the first snap of this 110th season of Oregon football and takes, in his quiet manner, whatever turn of events awaits.

The road to Oregon

Dennis Dixon first became a quarterback because he wanted the football in his hands.

He was a receiver, `in junior pee wee' football. A frustrated one, at that.

`I wanted to be the man who ran the routes, go deep and catch the ball,' Dixon said. `I wanted to be like those big-time receivers, catching the football and scoring touchdowns.'

One problem: His quarterback couldn't get him the football.

`We used to practice long...

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