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Arizona upends second-ranked Oregon

Nov 16, 2007 - 8:27 AM TUCSON, Arizona (Ticker) -- For teams contending for a BCS Championship Game berth, one loss can be difficult to overcome. On Thursday, Oregon suffered two potentially devastating setbacks in the same game.

The second-ranked Ducks lost quarterback Dennis Dixon early in the first half and had their title hopes dealt a crushing blow in a 34-24 defeat to Arizona.

Dixon, who is considered one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy, has thrown for 2,139 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 583 yards and nine scores this season for Oregon (8-2, 5-2 Pac 10). The Ducks likely needed to win the rest of their games to secure a berth in this season's national championship game.

"The national championship thing was fine while it lasted," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said of the Rose Bowl. "The reality is we're still always trying to get the conference championship and the very best bowl game."

After spraining his left knee in Oregon's 35-23 win over Arizona State on November 3, Dixon appeared to further damage the same knee on a second-down play when it buckled under him as he tried to plant on an option carry with about six minutes to go in the opening stanza.

"My foot got planted in the ground, and my knee went the other way," Dixon said.

Dixon, a senior, said he would undergo tests on Friday and wasn't ready to accept that his college career may be over due to the injury.

"If that's the case, it's going to be hard to swallow that," Dixon said. "You've got to play your heart out, because you never know when you're going to get that last play."

Senior quarterback Brady Leaf came on in relief and finished the drive, which ended in a 34-yard field goal from Matt Evensen, expanding Oregon's lead to 11-7.

Dixon, who finished 5-of-8 for 62 yards with an interception to go along with 34 rushing yards and a score, was walking around in street clothes on the sideline in the second half.

The injury to their offensive centerpiece appeared to deflate the entire team.

"I can't say we were out of sorts but it would certainly seem that way," Bellotti said. "When your Heisman candidate goes down, and a guy that's a captain and a leader, that was hard."

Arizona's Jason Bondzio answered Evensen's field goal with one of his own on the next drive to narrow Oregon's advantage to 11-10. From that point on, the Ducks would surrender 21 more unanswered points before intermission to take a commanding 31-14 lead into halftime, thanks in large part to cornerback Antoine Cason.

Cason bookended Willie Tuitama's second touchdown pass to Mike Thomas with a 42-yard interception return for a score early in the second quarter and a punt return for 56 yards with 5:30 remaining in the half.

Tuitama went 21-of-39 for 266 yards with two TDs and one interception for Arizona (5-6, 4-4).

Oregon chipped away at the 17-point halftime deficit with a third-quarter field goal from Evensen and a two-yard scoring run by Andre Crenshaw with 7:53 remaining to narrow the gap to 31-24.

"I thought we did a good job in the second half of coming back after Dennis got hurt, but Arizona just played better than we did," said Ducks running back Jonathan Stewart, who rushed for 131 yards on 28 carries.

However, Bondzio would seal the game with a 46-yard field goal with 3:20 left to account for the final margin.

"I am so proud of all of the coaches and players," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "Everyone played great tonight, but we definitely had to earn it."

Leaf finished 22-of-46 for 163 yards with two interceptions for the Ducks, who became the fifth second-ranked team to lose since October 6, following USC, California, South Florida and Boston College.