Best Oregon football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore

If Harrington got the ball rolling for Oregon football, then it was Dennis Dixon who arrived three years later that took that ball and ran with it. He was the epitome of excitement at the helm of the Ducks offense with his ability to sling it all over the yard but also the opportunity to turn any broke play into a huge one with his rushing ability.

Dixon’s career, unfortunately, was never as great as it could’ve been because he had two seasons shortened due to torn ACLs. But even with that, the dual-threat passer was able to consistently find success while running the Oregon offense.

His best season came in his final one in 2007. Though he was limited to only 10 games due to injury, the star quarterback still passed for 2,136 yards, 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions while also rushing for 583 yards and nine touchdowns. Despite the shortened season, he still finished fifth in the Heisman voting.

For his career, Dixon finished with 5,129 passing yards, 38 passing touchdowns, 1,208 rushing yards and 12 rushing scores as well. While those don’t rank highly in terms of the all-time records at Oregon, they are impressive given the adversity he faced.

But much like Harrington, Dixon belongs in the four best players of the modern era because of what he meant in Eugene. The Ducks wouldn’t be a national star as a program if not for what he did while leading the offense.