All Jeremy Dixon could do was watch from his back as he reclined in his all-yellow No. 7 jersey on the Averett sideline.  Yet, the pain from his injury was nothing compared to the pain he felt from not being on the field when his team needed him the most.

After making a catch to put the Cougars inside Maryville's red zone, the senior wide receiver was forced to leave the game with cramping. Dixon looked on as his Cougars — trailing 21-14 late in the fourth quarter — had two consecutive plays go for a loss followed by two incomplete passes, the last of which came on a crucial fourth down.

“It hurt me a whole lot not being in there on key downs and key situations,” said Dixon, the Cougars' go-to receiver and team co-captain. “I feel like I could have helped us get to where we needed to be. No one wants to sit and watch their team go down and not be able to do anything about it.”

Averett had two more possessions in the final minutes, but never returned to Maryville's red zone as the Cougars suffered their first conference loss of the season last Saturday — putting their conference title aspirations in jeopardy as well.

Not even the blistering hot summer heat in Florida was going to deter him. Once a guy like Jeremy Dixon puts his mind to it, there's no stopping him.

The Hawthorne, Fla., native usually left the house around 1 p.m. and headed either to his old high school or sometimes the University of Florida in nearby Gainesville. There, Dixon would begin his workout regimen with stadium steps. Then he'd run routes and springs. Next, he'd work on his vertical with dumbbell jumps. Some days he'd train with a partner. Many days it was just him.

Dixon was coming off a breakout junior season. One in which he had garnered national attention as a D3Football.com Second Team All-American and First Team All-Region return specialist. He was also selected to the USA South All-Conference First Team for his special teams abilities, which allowed him to run two kickoffs and one punt back for touchdowns in 2009.

Dixon would constantly get congratulatory remarks from teammates and friends on his awards. Yet, he continued to be bugged by something he didn't win. Although Dixon was named to the USA South All-Conference First Team as a return specialist, he was just an honorable mention selection as a wide receiver.

“When I received the All-American and all-conference honors for (return specialist), it was awesome. I'm not even going to lie,” said Dixon, who was also named a D3Football.com Preseason Second Team All-American return specialist in August. “Being second team and as a returner, I don't mean to be rude but I'm a receiver.  I want to make it as a receiver.”

So Dixon embarked on an offseason plan to help him achieve that goal to become more consistent in his route running and receiving abilities. But there was more to it than just going through the physical motions.

“There was a lot of growing up this summer mentally,” Dixon said. “I felt like I had the physical attributes to be good. I just wanted the mental part so I could be great.”

Dixon has fulfilled his promise to himself so far this season. He leads Averett with 36 catches for 543 yards and four touchdowns. In the conference, he ranks first in receptions per game and third in reception yards.

“It really started with him having the desire to be great at that position,” Averett Offensive Coordinator #J.D. Shaw# said. “He's always had a great work ethic.  He's always had a strong desire to try to improve. Now that he's become the guy, he's really taken it up to another level. He wants to be perfect at everything he does.”

It seems like it was a lifetime ago when the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Dixon stepped foot onto Averett's campus as a freshman quarterback during preseason camp in August 2007. Almost immediately, he was thrown to the wolves in limited action, giving the Cougars a mobile quarterback to offset some of their inexperience on the offensive line.

“When Jeremy was a freshman we felt he was competitive enough and athletic enough to play right away,” Shaw said. “Even as a freshman he was one of the best athletes on the team.  He was just raw. He really showed flashes of greatness as a quarterback and he embraced the pressure of that position.”

Moving forward, the Averett coaching staff envisioned Dixon as a utility guy — someone they could line up at quarterback and at wide receiver. However, Dixon preferred to make the full-time move to receiver, a decision that was aided by what the coaching staff felt like was a good quarterback recruiting class.

However, his brief time at quarterback wasn't a wash. If anything, it helped Dixon become better acquainted with the playbook.

“The stuff that I learned at quarterback, when moved to receiver and got out there it seemed like everything was put together and I knew what route to run,” he recalled. “It helped me tremendously.”

And thus the evolution of Dixon began.

In his first full game at wide receiver in Averett's 2008 season opener against Bridgewater, Dixon showed a glimpse of what he was capable of doing. He made five catches for 152 yards. Although he found initial success as a receiver, Dixon couldn't repeat that one performance the rest of the season. He finished his sophomore season with 41 catches for 504 yards and just one touchdown. His junior year, statistically, wasn't as strong either. He had just 31 receptions for 352 yards and three touchdowns. However, the individual stats don't tell the full story. Averett spread its passing offense around to several players and fed then-senior Anthony Squillini 55 times for 816 yards and nine touchdowns. Dixon, meanwhile, provided more of a spark as the return specialist.

Entering his senior year, Dixon knew it was his turn to be in the receiving spotlight — his time to shine.

“I wanted to be a big-time guy for my team and be a sparkplug,” he acknowledged.

Averett head coach Mike Dunlevy makes no bones about it. For the Cougars to be successful, they have to get the ball in Dixon's hands.

“He produces,” Dunlevy said. “He makes plays when you put the ball in his hands. It's just how many touches can we get him and what different ways can we get him the football.”

Unfortunately, opposing teams are just as aware of Dixon's capabilities. Opponents have done their best to keep the ball away from Dixon on special teams and in the offense.

“Oh yeah, there's no doubt about that,” Dunlevy noted. “Even just last week, Maryville was trying to make sure they did not punt the football to him. They punted the ball out of bounds like three times. … Teams know what he's capable of doing and they're trying to find ways to not get him the football. You're starting to see it on kickoffs, too.”

As teams try to avoid giving Dixon opportunities on returns, it has opened the doors for other teammates like Jerel Robinson and Logan Smyth, who both have broken off big returns this season, including a 79-yard punt return by Robinson against Guilford College.

The Averett coaching staff has also found creative ways to ensure that Dixon gets his share of touches. They're run the usual arsenal, as well as bubble screens and even wildcat formations. Some of those plays came from the time Shaw spent with the Carolina Panthers coaching staff back in early June.

“They got some ideas how they get Steve Smith the ball,” Dixon said. “They've done a great job trying to get me the ball in open space, one-on-ones, backside — just different things.”

There's no doubt that Dixon has taken the next step, evolving into an exceptional receiver and a potential USA South Player of the Year candidate. He has three straight 100-yard receiving games entering this week's 1 p.m. game at Methodist University, and he has four total this season — an Averett single-season record.

In addition to becoming a prime target, he's also developed into one of the team's best blockers, another thing he prides himself on.

“Last year I wasn't as good of a blocker as I should have been,” Dixon said. “I took that to heart. I want to be a complete player and I also want people to block for me whenever it's my turn. I can't just go hard when it's just my turn to get the ball. I have to go hard for other guys because they're depending on me to make the block so we can score points and win the game.”

Coaches love his unselfish attitude, which made it easy for Dixon to be considered as one of the team's four captains.

“He wants to be perfect at everything he does,” Shaw said. “He rarely is ever satisfied with what he sees on the field. When he watches film, he's probably more critical of himself than any of us are as coaches. I think that has helped him produce the way that he has. He wants the ball in critical situations.”

As Dixon recalls the waning moments of the Maryville loss, the look of frustration and disappointment is evident.

“I wasn't hydrated enough,” Dixon notes while discussing the injury that kept him out of those key plays against the Scots. “Trust me, I've been hydrating all week so that won't happen again.”

There's something else that Dixon doesn't want to happen again. Averett don't want to find themselves on the ropes late in games. Last week's loss to Maryville means that there is now no margin for error if the Cougars wish to win the USA South Conference title.

“We have a sense of urgency about us and know that we can't slip up anymore,” Dixon said. “If we play to our full potential every game, then we will be the conference champions. If we have another game like last Saturday (against Maryville), then we won't be conference champions. I don't think that will happen. We're ready to play.”