Oregonian: Help Dixon settle down; then he'll win

Friday, November 04, 2005

You have been wondering. I have been wondering. It's become the thing to do when it comes to Oregon football and the premature arrival of the Dennis Dixon Era.  But are we wondering the same things?  Because while you're asking yourself if an unproven sophomore quarterback can step in for the injured Kellen Clemens, beat Cal, Washington State and Oregon State in successive games and lead the Ducks to a 10-1 season, I'm just trying to figure out if we should be looking at the future, or at the past.  So maybe while we're all guessing at what's going to happen in Dixon's first start, it's time we went to the expert on Dixon first starts.  That would be Danny Calcagno, Dixon's coach at San Leandro (Calif.) High.

Friday, Sept. 8, 2000 vs. Campolindo (Calif.) High.  That was Dixon's first high school game as a starter. He was 15. And a high school sophomore. Dixon's height: 6-foot-3. His weight: 155 pounds.  "He was just a skinny, young kid," said Calcagno, who is now the head coach at Chabot Community College. "Not that much has changed, I guess."  Calcagno said he remembers Dixon, who hadn't played anything other than Pop Warner Football until that point, being nervous. And excited. And that, "there were a couple of balls that he threw that that kind of sailed on him."  In his first start, Dixon completed only 3 of 10 passes for 34 yards. He threw no touchdowns and one interception, which came in the red zone. But Dixon had "a couple of huge first-down scrambles" and his team scored on defense, and won, 17-10.

"We found a way," Calcagno said.  Are you listening, Oregon?  Because the most accurate predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Dixon is going to be nervous. He's going to be excited. He's going to have a few throws sail on him. It's whether the season sails away with those throws that you should be worried most about.  Said Calcagno: "Dennis is a fierce competitor. He doesn't like to lose. He's a leave-it-all-out-on-the-field kind of guy. I'm sure the coaches at Oregon have dummied down the offense to make sure he's successful. But he'll make plays in time. Just watch."  Time is the real issue now.  In a perfect world, it should be Clemens vs. Cal. And Clemens vs. WSU. And Clemens under center in what would then be an epic Civil War with Oregon State. And, save for a Clemens broken leg, Dixon should be holding a clipboard for the next month.  Which means Oregon coach Mike Bellotti and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton should be holed up in some football office in Eugene, wearing headsets and practicing calling lots of "completions" (READ: short, easy, high-percentage passing plays) for this first Dixon start.  Calcagno will tell you his biggest concern in three years of Dixon starts was keeping that wiry body healthy. Dixon isn't a durable option quarterback. He's a drop-back passer with tremendous mobility. The sooner Bellotti and Crowton learn this, the sooner we can stop worrying about regular concussions.  See, the bigger pressure is on the game plan being the right one.  And if the 21 other Oregon starters are as opportunistic as the ones on Dixon's high school team, they'll realize this isn't the time to sit back, get a drink of water, and let the quarterback carry the load.  Dixon started his first high school season as a starter by winning 12 consecutive games before throwing four first-half interceptions in a season-ending loss against De La Salle, the nation's No. 1 prep team. Dixon's junior year, he also started 12-0. And lost to De La Salle, again. And Dixon's senior year, ditto.  That's 36-3 as a starter.  Yeah, that was high school, you're thinking.  Here's a hunch that counts for something Saturday.