Ducks' Dixon officially done for year

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

Anyone shocked? As was clear to a bunch of us, he's got a torn ACL.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3115013

 

[beefncheddar]

Mentioned on the other thread, but the ACL was apparently toast in the Arizona State game. He tried to play through it against Arizona.

Give that kid the Heisman.

 

[wickedwritah]

I'm curious whose idea it was for Dixon to play against Arizona. I understand wanting to play in a big game, but your knee doesn't heal up in 12 days after a bad injury such as that.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

I'm curious whose idea it was for Dixon to play against Arizona. I understand wanting to play in a big game, but your knee doesn't heal up in 12 days after a bad injury such as that.

That's is certain a "WTF Mike Belloti" type of question that I hope was asked today. Kids don't come back from ACL tears in 12 weeks, let alone 12 days.

 

[beefncheddar]

Dixon first injured his knee in Oregon’s 35-23 victory at home over Arizona State on Nov. 3. While he knew the extent of the injury, he felt he could still play.
“He asked us on behalf of himself and his family to keep that quiet,” Bellotti said in a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon.
It was Dixon’s intention to delay the surgery until after the season, the coach said. He continued with the understanding that any further instability in the knee meant he would have to stop playing, the coach said.

 

[beefncheddar]

I've got no problem with Bellotti here. It sounds like everyone agreed that they'd pull the plug at the first sign of trouble.

No, it couldn't heal in that time, but as has been mentioned in the other thread, playing without an ACL isn't unprecedented. As long as Dixon was made WELL aware of the risk, let him play.

 

[wickedwritah]

Thank you, Mustard, for digging up the quote.

Even if Dixon begged to play, Bellotti gets a nice heaping of responsibility here. He is the coach. He is paid to make tough decisions. From afar, sounds like he handed this one over to the player without making a tough call. It's a BS move that ignores the rest of the locker room.

 

[beefncheddar]

Oh, it's a hell of a tough call. And you make it knowing that if the kid wrecks his knee in the process you'll be skewered.

At some point, though, you've got to be willing to let a senior (and his family) make an informed decision as to what they want to do. The only way I'd fault Bellotti is if there was any information, whatsoever, that the family didn't have in making the decision to give it a go.

Personally, I think he shouldn't have been allowed to play. If I were the coach, I hope I'd be strong enough to sit him down. At the same time, I can understand bracing it up and giving it a go.

 

[thebiglead]

Give that kid the Heisman.

For trying to play on a busted ACL? Tebow's been the most outstanding player in college football this year, IMO. Was dubious for the first six weeks, but have really come around on him since the three strong performances on the road against LSU, Kentucky and Georgia.

 

[beefncheddar]

Give it to him because with him, they were the No. 2 team in the nation. And without him, they couldn't beat a 4-6 Arizona team.

 

[beefncheddar]

Loss, Win, Loss

And Tebow, for all his alleged greatness, has led his team to what looks like will be a third place finish ... in the SEC East. He's looked great against Vandy and South Carolina, though. I'm sure Meyer will leave him in most of the game against Florida Whateverthe**** this week so he can put up some more pretty numbers.

 

[wickedwritah]

Oh, it's a hell of a tough call. And you make it knowing that if the kid wrecks his knee in the process you'll be skewered.

At some point, though, you've got to be willing to let a senior (and his family) make an informed decision as to what they want to do. The only way I'd fault Bellotti is if there was any information, whatsoever, that the family didn't have in making the decision to give it a go.

Personally, I think he shouldn't have been allowed to play. If I were the coach, I hope I'd be strong enough to sit him down. At the same time, I can understand bracing it up and giving it a go.

I'm torn on it. I think Bellotti has a responsibility to everyone involved with the program to send the best team out on the field each week. If he played Dixon just because Dixon wanted to play, it's irresponsible.

 

[Hustle]

Give that kid the Heisman.

For trying to play on a busted ACL? Tebow's been the most outstanding player in college football this year, IMO. Was dubious for the first six weeks, but have really come around on him since the three strong performances on the road against LSU, Kentucky and Georgia.

So Tebow's a better choice on the strength of three games?

Have you seen Dixon play at all? Certainly the Pac-10 is not the SEC, but it's better than most conferences this year.

 

[thebiglead]

Give that kid the Heisman.

For trying to play on a busted ACL? Tebow's been the most outstanding player in college football this year, IMO. Was dubious for the first six weeks, but have really come around on him since the three strong performances on the road against LSU, Kentucky and Georgia.

So Tebow's a better choice on the strength of three games?

Have you seen Dixon play at all? Certainly the Pac-10 is not the SEC, but it's better than most conferences this year.

Yes, i've seen a fair amount of each player. Tebow perhaps more.

Tebow, a sophomore, went on the road for three consecutive games against ranked teams. He led the offense to 24, 45 and 30 points.

Dixon, a senior, has not faced a ranked team on the road. In fact, he did not face a team with a winning record on the road this season. Dixon and Oregon are a product of a favorable schedule and catching Michigan at a time of the program's nadir.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Oh, it's a hell of a tough call. And you make it knowing that if the kid wrecks his knee in the process you'll be skewered.

At some point, though, you've got to be willing to let a senior (and his family) make an informed decision as to what they want to do. The only way I'd fault Bellotti is if there was any information, whatsoever, that the family didn't have in making the decision to give it a go.

Personally, I think he shouldn't have been allowed to play. If I were the coach, I hope I'd be strong enough to sit him down. At the same time, I can understand bracing it up and giving it a go.

I'm torn on it. I think Bellotti has a responsibility to everyone involved with the program to send the best team out on the field each week. If he played Dixon just because Dixon wanted to play, it's irresponsible.

Huh?

The Ducks had no shot without Dixon. They lost the game because he went out, not because he started the game.

The best team was with Dixon on the field. Hell, it may still be with Dixon, hopping around on one leg.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Give that kid the Heisman.

For trying to play on a busted ACL? Tebow's been the most outstanding player in college football this year, IMO. Was dubious for the first six weeks, but have really come around on him since the three strong performances on the road against LSU, Kentucky and Georgia.

So Tebow's a better choice on the strength of three games?

Have you seen Dixon play at all? Certainly the Pac-10 is not the SEC, but it's better than most conferences this year.

Yes, i've seen a fair amount of each player. Tebow perhaps more.

Tebow, a sophomore, went on the road for three consecutive games against ranked teams. He led the offense to 24, 45 and 30 points.

Dixon, a senior, has not faced a ranked team on the road. In fact, he did not face a team with a winning record on the road this season. Dixon and Oregon are a product of a favorable schedule and catching Michigan at a time of the program's nadir.

The Ducks did have a favorable schedule in that their toughest games were at home. To suggest Dixon is a product of that schedule is laughable. He played in three road games and they scored 39, 55, and 55. I think he can handle the road just fine.

 

[beefncheddar]

24 against LSU. OK, not bad. Not exactly Heisman material, but whatever.
45 against Kentucky. The next stop the Wildcats make will pretty much be their first.
30 against Georgia. Weren't they behind big pretty much the whole way? And Tebow's stats? 14-for-22 for 236 yards and 1 TD passing. And 13 carries for -15 yards. But he scores 2 TDs on the ground in the process of going for -15.

 

[thebiglead]

Dixon is a nice player, and certainly a Top 3 Heisman finisher. I just think his stats and value have gone through the roof against incredibly inferior competition.

Road games:
aforementioned Michigan (rebuilding defense that lost a ton to the pros, just got worked at home by App St)
Stanford (Oregon trailed at the half; the Cardinal have had the worst defense or second words in the pac 10 all season)
Washington (the only defense worse than Stanford's in the Pac-10)

Dixon's a great story with the baseball and the lofty record and nice stats (mostly at home) ... and this is all subjective ... but i just don't see how Dixon can win this award over Tebow. If you say he only had one loss ... then why not factor in Brennan and the kid at Kansas, both of whom have zero losses?

 

[beefncheddar]

Because we are now able to specifically pin a value to Dixon. He makes a pedestrian team exceptional.

 

[beefncheddar]

My own personal opinion: There's about a hundred QBs that could have taken that Florida team and lost three games with it. Tebow's got lots of pretty stats, which have been run up in what can only be considered a pretty disappointing season for his team. Many of them being runs that could have easily been made by the FB or RB.

And there's no bigger SEC fanboy here than me, but you've got to be kidding if you think Oregon's opponenets have been "incredibly inferior".