By Bob Clark
The Register-Guard
It's going to be the same offense, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said Sunday, simply a different Duck calling the plays in the huddle and taking the snap from center. Out of the shotgun, too, just as Kellen Clemens did as the starter for the first eight games of this season. Now, the starter becomes sophomore Dennis Dixon with the official determination Sunday that Clemens does have a broken fibula in his left leg, and damage to ankle ligaments. Clemens will undergo surgery today at Sacred Heart Medical Center, and the rehabilitation process is expected to take a minimum of three months. Clemens suffered the injury in the third quarter of Saturday night's win at Arizona when he was tackled on a passing attempt, and while there was a strong suspicion the injury included a broken bone, that determination wasn't finalized until X-rays were taken Sunday morning after the team returned to Eugene. "Right now, I'm just kind of enjoying Sunday with my wife, watching a couple of movies," Clemens said Sunday evening. Clemens said he was told to expect a "full recovery" from the injury, though "from what the doctors say, it's going to be a little bit of a process getting back" to full speed physically. The time needed for rehabilitation is obviously going to delay, if not prohibit, winter workouts for professional scouts. "I want to play football again," Clemens said. "I'm not able to do it wearing a Duck uniform anymore, but I want to keep that dream alive." Bellotti compared the Clemens injury to one suffered by Reuben Droughns during his junior season of 1998 at Oregon. Droughns returned to play as a senior and rushed for 1,234 yards and continues to play in the NFL. "It's just going to take time," Bellotti said of the recovery for Clemens. Clemens said he would be in the hospital overnight, but by Wednesday he plans to "crutch around to a couple of classes" and start attending practices as soon as he's allowed and can manage being on the field to assist in the transition of roles for his backups, Dixon and fellow sophomore Brady Leaf.
"There are a lot of things I've learned running this offense that I think I can pass on to those guys," Clemens said. "I'll continue to do everything I can to help this team win, in a different role now but with the same mentality." The senior from Burns concludes his UO career near the top of nearly every UO statistical category for quarterbacks. He is the school record-holder for completion percentage at .609, and his 61 touchdown passes are one shy of the UO record held by Danny O'Neil. Through the eight games in which he played, Clemens leads the Pac-10 and ranks fifth in the nation in total offense (329.3 yards) and was one of seven finalists announced last week for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually to the nation's top senior quarterback. The game at Arizona was the 32nd consecutive start for Clemens, with only four quarterbacks in the nation currently holding longer streaks as the starter of their teams. Bellotti lamented the loss of "arguably your best player. Kellen has been the glue, the igniter for that offense." With no game scheduled until Nov. 5, the Ducks do have extra time to work with Dixon and Leaf, and make a decision on a third quarterback. The only other players listed as quarterbacks on the UO roster are a pair of freshman walk-ons, Kyle Bennett from Parkrose High School in Portland and South Eugene graduate Brett McLennan. McLennan, however, is ineligible to play this season, Bellotti said Sunday. McLennan signed with Sacramento State last winter as a senior at South Eugene. The emphasis for this short week of practices, with the Ducks working out today through Thursday before a weekend break, will be on getting Dixon and Leaf more time with the No. 1 offense. "They'll improve a lot," Clemens said. "It works out really well that we have a bye this week. They'll have two weeks to get more reps (with the starting unit) than ever before."
Bellotti said the practice time with the starting unit would be divided with about 70 percent for Dixon and the other 30 percent with Leaf. Dixon suffered a concussion on his only series after replacing Clemens on Saturday night, but was cleared in testing Sunday to practice today. He didn't attempt a pass against Arizona, and is 15-of-20 for 130 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown in the seven games in which he's played. Dixon ran once for a loss of a yard against Arizona, and has 17 rushes for 66 yards and a touchdown this season. Leaf was 5-of-10 for 53 yards with an interception against Arizona, making him 8-of-17 this season. Bellotti said Oregon will continue to use the spread offense, regardless of who is in the game instead of Clemens. "I don't think we'll be scaled back," the coach said. "It'll change somewhat, to reflect (the quarterback) and what he does."
OREGON UPDATE
One for the book: By blocking a punt in the third quarter against Arizona, UO defensive tackle Haloti Ngata now has seven blocks in his career of punts, field goals or extra points. That's believed to at least be a modern record for the Ducks, with former UO safety Keith Lewis credited with six blocked kicks in his career and research by the UO media services office finding no player with more than that.
Up in the polls: The Ducks moved up to 14th in the nation in both The Associated Press voting by the media and the USA Today voting by coaches. The Bowl Championship Series rankings, to be released today, listed Oregon 13th last week.
Awaiting a decision: A game time for the Nov. 5 game against California should be announced today, if television networks make their selections for games. There is the option for networks to use a "six-day" selection, and wait until next Sunday to select games for telecast on Nov. 5.
Next game: Nov. 5 at Autzen Stadium against California, with the game time to be finalized. TV: Also to be announced.
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