It's still early in the recruiting process for the pigskin slinger from San Leandro, but Oregon State made a great impression.

Dennis Dixon traveled to Oregon State last weekend, and he shared some of his thoughts on the game. He saw first hand what quarterbacks can accomplish in the Dennis Erickson spread offense. This wasn't his first trip to Reser Stadium in Corvallis.

Dennis and several San Leandro players had a chance to visit the Beavers when the Bruins came to town several weeks ago. There were plenty of reasons to enjoy this visit more than the first. "My trip went great, and I had a chance to talk to the coaches and I felt good about their program. It was my first official trip, and I liked it a lot."

"I had a baseball commitment this summer and couldn't go to the Beavers' Camp. I came up twice during the season, and it was good to see the stadium when the fans are in it. It was wild because they had that place packed full. I saw their plans for expanding the stadium in 2005, and I'm really curious what it will be like then."

"I really liked the town too, and the smaller size is fine for me because the people are all real friendly." Dennis is also looking at UCLA, Oregon, USC, Cal, and Washington. While four of the schools are major cities that won't necessarily play an advantage. He liked the campus and facilities at Oregon State in addition to the game day activities.

San Leandro is located Southeast of downtown Oakland and is just east of the San Francisco Bay.

He also had an opportunity to talk with the Oregon State coaches and commented on starting quarterback Derek Anderson. "Dennis Erickson is so easy to get along with, and we had a great heart to heart talk. You can tell that he's an honest guy, and I also got a chance to talk to most of the other coaches. Derek Anderson played an amazing game, and he impressed me a lot because I saw him improve from earlier in the season. He was really great, and the players on the team were good guys too".

Dennis is the starting quarterback for San Leandro in Northern California, and he's in the process of leading his team deep into the play-offs. Last Friday, they beat Pittsburgh 38-24, and this week they'll take on Foothill. His team has been on a roll all season, and he'd like to continue the pace.

After his high school season Dennis will have several more official trips. He'd like to stay in the Pac-10, however he said it was way too early to name a leader. He also realizes that most of the schools he's considering will take multiple quarterbacks so he doesn't feel rushed or cornered to make a decision before taking all of his trips.