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It looked like Dennis Dixon was tackled by a ghost.

Dixon faked a handoff up the middle in the first quarter Thursday, took a few steps to the left, scrambled a bit and crumbled.

Wearing a brace on his left knee, Dixon felt something shift and then pop back into place. He collapsed untouched.

In that moment, at the 20-yard line of the south end of a raucous Arizona Stadium, the Heisman Trophy favorite probably ended his college career.

"My foot got caught in the grass," he said.

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said the prognosis is not good.

"I think he's probably done for the year," Bellotti said.

With the injury, Dixon's Heisman hopes probably crashed to the faded Bermuda grass.

So did Oregon's national title hopes, which were doomed by giving up 31 first-half points. The Ducks then replaced Dixon with a quarterback who went 22 for 46 with two interceptions.

"The national championship thing was fun while it lasted," Bellotti said. "The reality is we're trying to always get the conference championship and the very best bowl game."

Bellotti tried to be upbeat, but couldn't mask his disappointment. Oregon's players had that same look on their faces the minute Dixon went down. He was nursing a sprained knee he suffered almost two weeks ago against Arizona State.

"When Dennis went down, I'm pretty sure everybody in the world knew it was his knee," said running back Jonathan Stewart, who finished with 28 carries for 131 yards. "I was thinking, 'Man, we gotta fight through this again.' "

Dixon spent the second half on the sideline in a black sweatsuit and beanie. Backup Brady Leaf didn't fare much better.

He sprained an ankle on his second possession of the second half, and became, in the words of offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, "a wounded animal."

Dixon, who averaged 230.4 yards passing and 61 rushing yards per game, scored the team's first touchdown on a 39-yard run. He said he felt fine — until the injury.

"It just shows you got to play your heart out, because you never know when you're going to get your last play," he said. "That motto's great."

Two years ago, Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens ended his regular-season career with a broken ankle at Arizona Stadium, and said virtually the same thing.

Dixon took over then, before suffering a concussion and giving way to Leaf.

Leaf then made his first career appearance as anything but a holder. He went 5 for 10 for 53 yards, and the Ducks held on for a win.

"It's kinda ironic," Dixon said. "It's kinda déjà vu here at Arizona. The starting quarterback goes down and the second or third has to come in."

Dixon said he expects to hear today whether his college career is over. He's not ready for it to be.

"If it comes down to it, it's gonna be pretty hard for me to swallow that," he said.