With 7:54 remaining in the third quarter of Saturday’s 28-21 win over Arizona, Oregon’s football season took a dramatic turn as one of its senior leaders, quarterback Kellen Clemens, lay face down on the Arizona Stadium turf after being dragged down by the Wildcats’ Copeland Bryan.
The diagnosis: a season-ending ankle injury.
While disbelief and heartache sank in for most Oregon enthusiasts, head coach Mike Bellotti may have summed it up best.
“Obviously, Kellen’s loss is tremendous to us because, I think, he’s playing as good as anyone in the nation. Certainly, there’s nobody more valuable to their team.”
He had become the poster boy for Oregon football – a homegrown kid, leading the resurgent Ducks to a 7-1 record and a top-15 national ranking his senior season.
He had recently been named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the nation’s top senior quarterback, and he was on pace to break many of Oregon’s passing records.
No doubt, Kellen Clemens will be missed – not simply for his on-field skills, but his leadership and off-field charisma as well. Let’s hope his injury and mere presence on the sideline will become a rallying point for the Ducks’ final three games.
Still, it’s difficult to grasp the fact that he’s played his last game in an Oregon uniform.
The bottom line is Oregon escaped the desert as a 7-1 football team and should easily be able to point out the silver lining from its sloppy, gritty and gusty performance against Arizona.
As unfortunate as Clemens’ injury was, if it was going to happen, the timing could not have been better.
On top of garnering their fourth straight win of the season and seventh straight against the struggling Wildcats, the Ducks now enter their bye week, which gives Bellotti and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton two weeks to integrate backup quarterbacks Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf into the first team offensive rotation in preparation for No. 25 California.
Both took snaps at Monday’s practice to begin the post-Kellen Clemens era.
Regardless of whether Oregon goes to a two-quarterback system, both Leaf and Dixon have the ability and tools to succeed in the Ducks’ spread offense.
Dixon is Oregon’s fastest athlete while Leaf has possibly the strongest arm, and when the two get confidence and experience Oregon can be the same explosive offense it was with Clemens at the helm.
“Dennis and Brady need to be ready to step up and get this thing done,” Bellotti said. “We have playmakers, we just have to distribute the football the same way we’ve done. I’ve got a lot of confidence in our offense.”
The pair arrived as two of Oregon’s most highly-touted recruits looking to take over the reins after a couple years of learning the offense.
But their futures must begin a little sooner than anticipated.
While the sudden jump into the spotlight may equal a number of mistakes early, it’s also a chance for each to showcase the future of Oregon football.
And with plenty of offensive weapons as well as a defense that has shown it can dominate – and win – football games, a 10-1 season remains a realistic possibility.

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