Suddenly websites and college football shows are talking about Dante Moore being the most complete quarterback in the country.
Duck fans will know for sure after they see how he handles the pressure of the Penn State defense and a White Out night game in Happy Valley, but it's looking that way. He operates the Oregon offense with precision, on-target on possession throws while demonstrating the ability to strike deep.
The Ducks have climbed from being a playoff contender to a potential national championship team, and Moore's emergence is a big reason why. He has a better set of skills than either Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix, though they were both great quarterbacks for the Ducks.
What Moore doesn't have is Gabriel's six years of experience, but he absorbed a lot of that in his year of patient observation.
Moore used his 20-month apprenticeship to become a completely different quarterback, reclaiming his five-star potential. He learned. He grew. He established credibility with his teammates.
Something different about Dante man. This kid is special. I’m telling you now he’s the best qb in that class and has a chance to be Oregons best to date with raw arm talent and skillset. Amazing what a year of getting ya mind right will do. He just getting started. 🤫😴 #goducks https://t.co/Vy8mwGHOlW
— B1G Duck (@B1GDuck_) September 10, 2025
The restoration project has been an enormous success, but the next step in it is for the 6-3, 206 redshirt sophomore to be placed into the serious hot water, teams that can score and threaten and rush the passer. Penn State is one but Indiana, Minnesota, USC and Washington look like they could mount a challenge.
The Iowa game doesn't look as scary as it did in August. FCS transfer Mark Gronowski has completed 53.8 percent of his passes for a TOTAL of 127 yards in games against the University of Albany and Iowa State. Jayden Maiava of the Trojans, however, is third in the country in passing with a rating of 262.4, throwing for 354 yards a game.
That's trouble for another day. Going into the Northwestern game, Moore looks sharp, talented and in command. The preseason concerns about how he would do as a starter look laughably inaccurate.
In two games the UCLA transfer from Martin Luther King High School in Detroit has connected on 33-44 passes for 479 yards and six touchdowns, 77.3 percent. Not a single ball has been in harm's way and he hasn't been sacked, rarely even touched.
On Tuesday guard Emmanuel Pregnon said, "We're all fixated on one goal and that's winning and keeping our quarterback clean." He's rapidly becoming one of my favorite Ducks.
The portal has been good to Oregon and Oregon has helped kids maximize their potential. Incredible insight into how different it is to be with @oregonfootball. Come join @ducksrising_NIL and support the team! https://t.co/vrD5W1IGVL
— Cloud Schnoebelen (@cschnoeb) September 10, 2025