Last season, Arizona came to Autzen Stadium and handed the Ducks their only home loss of the year, 37-10, on six turnovers that led to 23 Wildcat points. This will be a motivating factor in the Ducks’ preparation this week, according to Oregon coach Mike Bellotti.
“Anytime you lose a game and you play poorly and you turn the ball over six times … there’s a lot of motivation in that regard,” he said. “And because it was in our house too.”
The four interceptions thrown by quarterback Dennis Dixon in the game were enough to cost him his starting quarterback position for the following week’s Civil War. Dixon hasn’t thrown that many interceptions this entire season – through nine games he has thrown just three – and the lack of offensive turnovers will not only be the key to a Duck win against Arizona Thursday but a key to the success Oregon has enjoyed all season, according to Bellotti.
“We have to do a great job of taking care of the football,” Bellotti said. “That’s what we’ve done very well this year and it’s what we didn’t do in this game last year.
“Last year at this time we were negative in the turnover ratio, (now) we’re positive, in fact we lead the league in that category, which is probably the number-one correlation to winning and losing,” he said.
On the defensive side of the ball, Bellotti said that the Arizona passing attack, led by quarterback Willie Tuitama, is his main concern this week. Arizona leads the Pac-10 in passing offense, while Oregon sits last in the conference in passing defense. The Ducks have allowed 24 touchdowns this year, 16 have come through the air.
“Tuitama is on of the most accurate quarterbacks out there,” Bellotti said. “They’re going to spread you out and throw the ball down the field as much as they can and obviously we need to do a better job against the pass.”

Help at wide receiver

The Oregon receiving corps, on a “razor’s edge” in terms of depth according to Bellotti, could be a bit deeper than it has been the last few games with the possible return of Derrick Jones from a suspension, an injury and wisdom tooth surgery. Bellotti said that the sophomore has been practicing and could see some action Thursday.
“We may have the services of Derrick Jones, which would help the speed quotient of our receivers,” Bellotti said. “In general he has caught the ball very well this week and I think he’s very excited to get out there.”

Injury report

Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, who suffered a bruised thigh and a mild knee sprain in Oregon’s 35-24 win over Arizona State, is back practicing at “full go” according to Bellotti. He is expected to be ready to start Thursday night.
Of the quarterback’s recovery, Bellotti said, “I’m very, very pleased. He had some soreness but nothing that would hold him back, so that’s really good.”
Sophomore tight end Ed Dickson didn’t finish practice Sunday after suffering a concussion on a hit from linebacker Kwame Agyeman, but has returned to the practice field and is expected to play against Arizona.
Senior punt returner Andiel Brown has not practiced this week, according to Bellotti, and freshman wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad will handle the punt return duties.
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