TUCSON — Good morning, Big 12 Conference. How do you like your jambalaya?
New Orleans and the Bowl Championship Series title game are now in bright lights on the Big 12 contenders’ itinerary as another dreamer fell from title contention Thursday night. This time it was Oregon’s turn. The second-ranked Ducks’ Heisman Trophy favorite, quarterback Dennis Dixon, reinjured his left knee in the first quarter and Oregon limped out of the title picture with him, falling 34-24 to unranked Arizona.
That one tweak gave another twist to a truly twisted college football season. This was the 10th top-five team to lose to an unranked opponent. So, with three weeks left in the regular season, the BCS Championship likely settles on the Big 12 for one of the two championship slots.
Kansas, third in the BCS rankings, could have spent Thursday watching the nonstop Barry Bonds coverage. If Kansas won out, it would have passed Oregon into at least No. 2 anyway. But No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Missouri needed Oregon to lose. If Kansas beats Iowa State and Missouri wins at Kansas State on Saturday, they will meet in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 24 for the North Division title and the right to play for the Big 12 crown, probably against Oklahoma.
Barring a computer malfunction and No. 6 West Virginia bribing every voter during the next three weeks, that Big 12 Championship on Dec. 1 will likely pit two top-four teams for a berth in New Orleans. Now who was that knocking the Big 12 in October? Shut up and see you next year.
When Dixon went down, so did Oregon. The team. The school. The state. It more than turned the tide of the game. The tide rode Oregon all the way out to sea, which is about where it stands this morning on the national stage.
“Playing for the national championship,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said, “was fun while it lasted.”
The face of the college football season turned with Dixon’s knee, which might put him out for the rest of the season. With Oregon ahead 8-7 in the first quarter, that knee bent like a pipe cleaner. It was the same knee he sprained Nov. 3 against Arizona State and he had showered by the time his Ducks were down, 31-11.
“My foot got planted in the ground and my knee went the other way,” Dixon told ESPN toward the end of the game.
No player among the national title contenders could less afford to go down than Dixon. A Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard survey of 122 college football writers nationwide this week showed Dixon had 89 Heisman Trophy votes to 26 for Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. That’s about as close as this game was in the first half.
Dixon had already shown why he was worthy of the trophy on Oregon’s first possession. His slight of hand could shame those New York street thieves playing the shell game. On one fourth-and-3, he faked out all of Arizona Stadium, outsprinting the world on a 39-yard TD run.
After Dixon went down with his injury at the Arizona 20 with Oregon leading 8-7, the Ducks (8-2, 5-2 Pac-10) had to settle for a field goal. On its next six drives, the nation’s fifth-ranked offense went interception, three straight three-and-outs, another punt and a field goal. Backup Brady Leaf is no fuzzy-cheeked freshman fresh off the Oregon Coast. He’s a senior who has thrown for more than 1,400 yards, primarily alternating with Dixon a year ago.
But as Dixon transformed from a scatter-armed, inconsistent mystery last year to arguably the best player in the country, the differences between the two became so very stark after the first quarter. Dixon combines a rocket, accurate (.679) arm with speed that has combined for 28 touchdowns. Every break of containment is a possible TD.
Compared to Dixon, Leaf is a statue. He had thrown all of 15 passes this season, and his rust showed on his second throw. Arizona (5-6, 4-4) blitzed, and Leaf threw to heavily covered Garren Strong – where cornerback Antoine Cason was waiting. He intercepted and raced 42 yards for a 17-11 Arizona lead.
With Dixon out and Leaf as shaky as one, Arizona’s defense threw away its former game plan. It stacked the line on running downs and blitzed the student body on passing downs. Leaf hit 22-of-46 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions, but did lead a 71-yard, 17-play touchdown drive that cut the lead to 31-24 with 4:26 left.
But while Jason Bondzio’s 46-yard field with 3:20 left iced it, Oregon never would have won any needed style points. Oregon looked awful in every phase. Bellotti had boasted about its “bend but don’t break” defense. The Ducks entered the game 74th in total defense at 404.56 yards a game (bend) but led the Pac-10 in red-zone defense (don’t break).
Well, against Arizona it broke plenty. Arizona junior quarterback Willie Tuitama threw touchdown passes of 34 and 46 yards to Mike Thomas for a 24-11 lead. Not to be left out, Oregon’s special teams fell apart when they let Cason catch a dribbling punt, cut left to find no one but punter Josh Syria in front of him for a 56-yard return to make it 31-11.
Oregon couldn’t handle the nation’s glare. Now it’s the Big 12’s turn.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Wilted Rose berth
Does anyone really care anymore, at least, outside the Great Lakes region, about the Michigan-Ohio State game? The bigger question than who win the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth is if this will be Michigan coach Lloyd Carr’s last regular-season game. He’s 1-5 against Jim Tressel, but Carr may leave on his own accord, win or lose.
Big 12: No. 6 Missouri (9-1, 5-1 Big 12) at Kansas State (5-5, 3-4) – Mizzou can’t afford to look ahead to its Nov. 24 showdown against Kansas because Kansas State has its moments. The Wildcats were crushed 73-31 last weekend at Nebraska, but pounded visiting Colorado 47-20 and won 41-21 at Texas.
Mountain West: Utah (7-3, 4-2) at New Mexico (7-3, 4-2) – Lobos coach Rocky Long didn’t make any guarantees about beating Utah. The records are identical, but Utah is playing the best on either side of the ball in the league. Lobos are living on PK John Sullivan but typically give Utah a battle.
COLORADO CONNECTIONS
Count on Korby
Adam Korby is finishing up his third season at Idaho, and the 6-foot-2, 292-pound center from Poudre High School has yet to miss a game. After redshirting in 2004, Korby has started 33 consecutive games for the Vandals. Before the season, the junior was selected by his teammates to be the offensive team captain. He has won the team’s Ironman Award the past two seasons and is on the Rimington Award watch list, which goes to the nation’s top center, for the second season. Idaho (1-9) plays Saturday at WAC power Boise State.
