Northwestern's Harris considers Oregon

Northwestern quarterback Jacory Harris, who committed to University of Miami coaches this summer, said Thursday his visit to the University of Oregon last weekend opened his eyes to possibly heading to the Pacific Northwest.

On his visit, Harris said he had dinner with former Heisman front-runner Dennis Dixon, a quarterback similar in skill, size and stature to Harris (6-3, 172) and was impressed by the facilities and support from fans, who cheered even though the Ducks lost their final home game.

''The trip to Oregon was wonderful,'' Harris said. ``. . . Me and [receiver Tommy] Streeter went up there, had fun, saw the facilities and saw what they had to offer athletically and academically and we really liked the program.''

Harris said he's going to sit down with his parents and talk things over soon. Harris, who has thrown for nearly 3,000 yards and has 45 touchdown passes and only four interceptions this season, is considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.

His father, Northwestern defensive coordinator Rodney Harris, said his son would first ''have to convince his mother to allow him to leave.'' Harris said he spoke with UM coach Randy Shannon on Wednesday night and told him ``he had nothing to worry about.''

''I'm still committed to Miami,'' Harris said. ``I don't know, that's still a place that strong in my heart, but Oregon has taken a big chunk of that away. Hopefully, I'll make the right decision.''