It wouldn't be November If .......

Ducks disaster
Posted by The Oregonian November 15, 2007 21:53PM
Categories: Sports, Top Stories
The Oregon Ducks' hopes of a berth in the BCS Championship Game disappeared on Thursday night as they first lost their star quarterback to an injury and then lost the game.
Quarterback Dennis Dixon, the Heisman Trophy front-runner going into the Ducks' game at Arizona, got his left foot stuck in the turf as he planted it for a cut upfield midway through the first quarter.
Dixon re-injured his left knee on the play -- he first hurt it against Arizona State -- and sat out the rest of the game. Without their leader, nicknamed "the Magician," the Oregon offense never recovered, and Arizona went on to win 34-24.
The severity of his injury was not immediately known, but by the second quarter Dixon was icing his knee in the locker room. Coming out of the locker room after halftime, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said "It's not good," saying there was instability in the knee.
Before his injury, Dixon looked like a Heisman contender. On Oregon's opening possession, he faked a handoff to Jonathan Stewart, then sprinted 39 yards for a score.
But Oregon looked like a different team after Dixon went down. Defensive back Antoine Cason scored on an interception return and on a punt return in the first half as the Wildcats built a 31-11 lead.
Backup quarterback Brady Leaf led Oregon on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive, but the Ducks never got closer than 31-24.
On the Wildcats' ensuing possession, they picked up a key first down on fourth and one, and then an apparent fumble that the Ducks recovered was overturned after an official review determined that quarterback Willie Tuitama was down before handing off to Nicholas Grigsby, who fumbled. That drive led to a field goal that put the game out of reach.
Even seemingly good plays turned sour for the Ducks. Early in the fourth quarter, Kwame Agyeman ran for 40 yards on a fake punt but fumbled it away as he was tackled at the Arizona 22-yard line.
Oregon became the fifth team this season to lose while ranked No. 2. With two losses, the Ducks are almost certainly out of contention to play in the Jan. 7 national championship, and Dixon's status in the Heisman Trophy race is in doubt.