Competing quarterbacks are complementary.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2006

It has all the elements of a potential conflict.

Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf both want to be the starting quarterback at Oregon. They're both juniors in eligibility, both proven in game situations.

There are the obvious contrasts, beyond one being black and the other white. One hails from the Big Sky country of Montana, the other from the metropolis of the Bay Area. One seems naturally at ease in the limelight, the other not so sure he likes all the attention that comes with his status in a college town such as Eugene.

And yet, for all that, Dixon and Leaf defy the idea that there will be any kind of a quarterback controversy with the Ducks this season.

`I can't explain it, other than we have to get along,' Dixon said. `We're around each other almost 24/7, but you can't do nothing but like the guy. He's so funny and he brings great spunk to the team.'

Leaf would certainly prefer to be the starting quarterback but said, `I'll be prepared for whatever. I'm getting mentally prepared for any circumstance, and most of all I'm preparing myself to play.'

The past two times Oregon had competitive situations at quarterback, it was the younger candidate who each time eventually won out as the starter, with sophomore Joey Harrington replacing junior A.J. Feeley in 1999 and sophomore Kellen Clemens taking the job from senior Jason Fife in 2003. This time, it's two juniors.

`I know with Fife and Clemens, it was tough for them at times,' Leaf said. `I think it's tougher for a guy to have a younger guy take his spot. Being the same age and everything, it helps push us.'

The battle for their status on the depth chart has actually lessened for Leaf and Dixon since they arrived at Oregon. Though Dixon enrolled in school a term after Leaf, they both signed their letters of intent in the same recruiting class as a third quarterback, Johnny DuRocher, who has since transferred to Washington.

`I figured coming in with three quarterbacks in the same class somebody was going to transfer, and I just wanted to make sure it wasn't me, so I worked,' Leaf said. `I probably started out with the coaching staff putting me at the bottom of the three. ... That's probably where I was on the pole.

`When you're in that position, you just have to work harder and prove yourself. I can play at this level and I can help this team, that's kind of the outlook I've always had.'

If there was any question about how Leaf and Dixon get along, it might have been answered after Oregon's spring game, when Leaf hosted the families of the two quarterbacks at a barbecue at a Eugene rental house he shares with other players.

`Dennis is a great kid and I respect him a lot,' Leaf said with a shrug in explanation of that event. `He's got a great family, and we get along fine.'

Gary Crowton, the Oregon offensive coordinator, said he has had talks with both of his junior quarterbacks about their competition and coexistence, but he's not surprised there have been no problems in the relationship.

`The bottom line is that they're just good guys,' Crowton said. `They have a good work ethic about them, and when they were behind Kellen they learned how to work together. Their personalities really work well together, and they have trust in each other.

`But don't mistake how they get along for the fact they're both really competitive. Dennis ended up being the starter, but I still want to play Brady, I'm just not sure how much. I've told them both, if they're doing the job, I'll play them.'