Andre Dixon
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andre Dixon (Born Andre Jamar Dixon on February 19, 1986) plays running back for the Connecticut Huskies in the NCAA college football tournament. After spending his rookie season exclusively on UConn's special teams and the first two games of his sophomore year serving his suspension, Dixon bounced back and made up for lost time by putting up personal best rushing numbers, finishing the season with 828 rushing yards and three scoring runs on 167 carries to earn a spot at the league's All-Second Team selection. The fairytale-like reserve-to-starter story of Dixon also netted him a share of the team's Co-offensive MVP honors with fellow rusher Donald Brown.
Contents |
Personal Life
Andre is neighbors with high school and college teammate Marvin Taylor. Apart from being good on the field, Andre also found success academically as he was an honor roll at school. He is an exploratory major at the University of Connecticut.
High School
Dixon attended New Brunswick in high school where he earned four varsity football letters and was a major factor in his school's 2003 state championship and three straight conference titles from 2002-2004. He capped his final playing year with a solid performance, rushing for 1,018 yards and 20 touchdowns to earn all-state second team and all-area first team accolades as a senior in 2004. All-in-all, Dixon has a 33-2 record in three seasons with New Brunswick.
College
Despite receiving only a two-star running back rating from Rivals.com, Dixon received a number of scholarship offers from several schools, including Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Temple. In the end, after his December 10, 2004 visit at UConn, he decided to wear the Husky uniform in college.
2005
Redshirted.
2006
As a redshirt freshman, Dixon was not used as a running back at all, spending most of his time on the field on the special teams as a kickoff returner. He made his debut against South Florida but did not return any kickoffs until the last three games of the season. After the loss to the Bulls, Dixon was recognized as the Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Week as the Huskies prepared for the Army game in which they went on to win 21-7. He had 4 returns for 70 yards (17.5 average) in a loss to Syracuse, 4 returns for 80 yards in a loss to Cincinnati, and 4 returns for 63 yards in the regular season finale @ Louisville. He ended the year with 12 kickoff returns for 213 yards with a 17.75 average.
2007
As a sophomore, Dixon began the year serving the suspension he got from head football coach Randy Edsall over the summer, pushing his season debut until the third game of the season against Temple. During the game against the Owls, Edsall decided to put Dixon in lieu of Donald Brown who had a rough rushing night to stir things up and get something going in the Husky offense. Dixon had his first career carry in his first game as a tailback in the second quarter against the Owls where he gained six yards then burst out a huge 27-yard run in the third quarter that set up a UConn touchdown. He ended the game tallying 21 carries for 129 yards and a 6.1 rush per carry average. The following week, he had 7 carries for 20 yards and made his first career reception for 19 yards in a win over Pittsburgh. He scored his very first touchdowns (both in rushing and receiving) in his third collegiate game, after carrying the pigskin 12 times for 116 yards and 1 TD with a career long 55-yard run while also catching 4 passes for 52 yards and 1 TD in a win over Akron. He had his third 100-yard game against Louisville, rushing for 115 yards in 22 carries with 3 receptions for 55 yards and the decisive scoring run with 1:32 left in the thrilling victory. The following week, he got an ESPN helmet sticker after putting up career numbers (32 carries, 167 yards) and a 209 all-purpose yard effort in a win over South Florida. Receiving-wise, he set his season highs in receptions at 6 (against Cincinnati) and receiving yards at 55 (against Louisville).
He capped the season making his postseason debut in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Wake Forest in Charlotte, carrying the ball 7 times for 19 yards in the loss to the Demon Deacons. He ended the year gaining 828 rushing yards on 167 carries with 3 scoring runs while also tallying 24 catches for 280 receiving yards (most by a Husky since the 231 by Cornell Brockington in 2004) in 10 outings. He also received second team All-Big East honors from the league and a share of the Offensive MVP honors with Brown from the team.
Highlights
| Andre Dixon gets a helmet sticker for his performance against South Florida (2007). |
Achievements
2007
- All-Big East Second Team
- Connecticut Huskies Co-Offensive MVP
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #5 RB in the Big East
- Phil Steele's All-Big East Second Team
- Rivals.com All-Big East Second Team
2006
- Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Week (vs. Army)
References
- Andre Dixon Connecticut Profile
- Andre Dixon Scout.com Profile
- Andre Dixon Stats @ cfbstats.com
- Andre Dixon Stats @ ESPN.com
- Dixon Shines In First Game Back After Suspension
