KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Brian
Poli-Dixon returns home this weekend against Arizona.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Reporter
Go west, young man.
Those must have been the words Brian Poli-Dixon heard as he made
his final decision on which university to attend.
Poli-Dixon grew up in Tucson and attended Sabino High School,
just a few miles from the University of Arizona. At 6-foot-5, 215
pounds and with hands soft as a pair of goose-down pillows, he
seemed like a good fit for a Wildcat team with two strong
quarterbacks and a solid decade of winning behind it. In fact,
Arizona was the first of five teams to offer Sabino’s career
leader in touchdowns and receptions a scholarship.
But something made Poli-Dixon leave the heat of the desert for
the cool of the Pacific Ocean.
“I wanted to experience something else,” the junior
wideout said.
“I gave it a lot of thought, but I just needed to get out
of Tucson.”
Although it is always challenging to leave home, Poli-Dixon
survived thanks to his family’s support and a close network
of friends on the team.
My family was very good about it,” he said. “They
let me go wherever I wanted.”
If leaving home was challenging, fighting for a spot on the team
was even tougher. The Bruins already had all-Pac-10 selection Danny
Farmer, and future all-world receiver Freddie Mitchell. But
Poli-Dixon waited for his chance and made the most of the
trial.
He will face quite a test Saturday as he returns to the desert
for the second time in his career.
Two years ago as a freshman he turned in one of his bigger games
of the year against a tough Wildcat team. Poli-Dixon seemed right
at home back in the desert. He led the Bruins with five catches for
51 yards and a touchdown in a 52-28 UCLA victory.
According to Poli-Dixon, the key to returning home is to focus
on the game and ignore the distractions.
“It’s going to be exciting,” he said. “I
just want to go back there, have a good game, and get a
win.”
The Bruins could use the win to help stop the bleeding of a
two-game losing streak. Arizona will be looking to bounce back
after a disappointing loss to first place Oregon last Saturday. In
that game the Wildcats held the Ducks to a season-low 260 total
yards.
Poli-Dixon should help the Bruins avoid a similar fate.
“I know he had a good game there a couple of weeks
ago,” quarterback Cory Paus said. “I hope he can have a
good game there this week too.”
Much of the focus will be on the match up between the Wildcats
freshman cornerback Michael Jolivette and both Poli-Dixon and
wideout Freddie Mitchell. Jolivette leads the Pac-10 in
interceptions with five, but there is no way he can guard both
men.
“With (Poli-Dixon) on one side and me on the other,
we’re unstoppable,” Mitchell said. “It’s
going to be awesome. I can’t wait for him to go
home.”
Poli-Dixon is pretty excited to be heading back to Arizona as
well. Still, he is satisfied with his choice of UCLA.
“I’m enjoying myself here. I have no regrets,”
Poli-Dixon said.
The excitement of going home has built all week, and by Saturday
Poli-Dixon should be ready to explode.
“It adds a whole other level of excitement to
practice,” he said.
“I’m flying around a little more, getting pretty
excited. I just want to go back there, have the best game of my
season, and win in front of friends and family.”
According to Poli-Dixon around 40 relatives and acquaintances
will attend the game. While he feels some added pressure, he says
it is good pressure, the kind that drives him to perform to the
best of his abilities.
“Poli does well with pressure anyway,” Mitchell
said. “He’s the kind of guy I would throw to in any
crucial situation.”
Case in point: earlier this year Poli-Dixon had touchdown
catches against No.3 Michigan and later No. 3 Alabama. Last week in
a crucial loss to Oregon State he led the team with six catches for
93 yards.
Poli-Dixon hopes for a similar feat on Saturday. The Bruins will
need the young man who headed west to pioneer a win against the
Wildcats.