Undoubtedly, much of the talk this week surrounding Oregon football is going to center around what many wanted to talk about entering the season: What is the quarterback situation?
Is Brady Leaf back in the mix? What’s going on with Dennis Dixon? Will the two split time like they did in the last four games of last season?
All these questions stem from poor performances by Dixon, the starter, in two of his last three games, including a 12-of-20, 105-yard and two-interception performance in the 34-23 loss to Washington State Saturday that likely puts the Ducks out of the Pacific-10 Conference championship race and out of BCS contention with two conference losses.
He was pulled in the third quarter in favor of Leaf, whose numbers read like this: 16-of-27 passing for 262 yards and two touchdowns – in less than two quarters.
In hindsight, the move appears brilliant. Dixon was struggling, the game was getting out of hand, and Leaf played admirably, leading two drives and igniting a fourth quarter rally that halted the chants of “over-rated” until his fourth-down pass fell incomplete late in the game.
Despite all that, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti was just as adamant as he was in day one of this season: Dixon is the starter, Leaf is the back-up.
Me? I think putting Leaf in at that juncture of the game is playing with fire.
See, the most popular player on any struggling team is the back-up quarterback. He’s the guy that sits and waits in the shadows and escapes the brunt of the criticism.
Just ask Oregon State’s Matt Moore how popular the back-up quarterback is.
OK, I don’t think the Ducks have reached that low, yet.
But there is no denying that Dixon is a better athlete than Leaf, fits the system better than Leaf, and is, typically, the more accurate passer than Leaf.
Bellotti’s said that time and time again.
No controversy here, right?
So why, with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter and the Ducks trailing 27-3, was the second-best quarterback in the game?
Sure Dixon was struggling mightily and, considering the opponent, having one of the worst games of his relatively young career. But here was a chance for the team to show unwavering confidence in Dixon through the good times and bad.
By pulling Dixon out of the game and inserting Leaf, Dixon’s leash now gets that much tighter. No disrespect to Leaf – I’m his biggest fan and I feel that Oregon could win if he were the starter. But he’s not.
So what’s going to happen, and likely it will, when Dixon struggles against Washington (assuming he’ll have a hay day against Portland State)? What happens when he throws his next interception or misses a read or mishandles a hand-off? Will he be looking over his shoulder constantly?
It’s never a good thing when your starter is doing that. Again, ask Matt Moore.
If Dixon is ever going to be the quarterback so many believe he can be, it’s not going to be by protecting him from abysmal games like Saturday. There has to be an unquestionable belief that he’s the starter, he’s the leader, and he’s going to be in the game until all hope is completely gone.
Plus, it’s not like Dixon hasn’t proven that he can lead comebacks – just ask the Sooners.
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