Oregon’s offense is looking pretty promising with Dante Moore taking charge. Fans were really optimistic when he came to Eugene, even though he had to sit out for a year. Nowadays, that kind of thing wouldn’t fly with the play-for-pay setup. Moore bided his time while Dillon Gabriel was out there breaking records during the 2024 season. Now, in his second year, he finally has the chance to show what he’s learned. Can he step up and light up the future for the Oregon quarterback position?
Well, Moore, who moved from UCLA to Eugene, racked up 1600 yards in his freshman year. His UCLA record spanned over 9 games. Stats? 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. But for a huge blemish in his resume, Dante Moore was sacked 16 times. He has moments of stumbling; in fact, he’s yet to figure out the passing game. In the 2024 season for the Ducks, Moore completed 7 of 8 passes at an 87.5% rate for 49 yards. On the other hand, his predecessor, Gabriel, set his unprecedented mark on the Ducks’ QB room, which is pretty tough to outstrip for any newbie.
“Dillon Gabriel last year, 73% completion, 72.9 if you wanna be exact, he went for over 3800 yards, 30 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, that was in 14 games,” Spencer McLaughlin set a clear bar for Moore to become the sensation Oregon can soak their dead skin off. “If Dante Moore wants to go 4000 yards in his first year starting, put up better numbers than the best season of Dillon Gabriel ‘s career, who was playing his sixth season of college football, boy, it would be exciting times in Eugene indeed.”
Now, the question: can Moore be that trendsetter? Not really a no, but a maybe with binding pressure. If Moore doesn’t surpass or match Dilon Gabriel’s stats, he will still be a bare minimum target to reach to appease a grieving fanbase after Gabriel’s departure. “I would be here for it across the board. That’d be a lot to expect this year, but 67 percent, yeah, you should in this offense minimum,” the Oregon insider added.
That’s indeed a lot for Dante Moore to deliver, especially given his average freshman year. But on the positive side, he got a lot of time to relax during his first year with no looming fear of being the guy. He observed, he understood, and he accumulated things that just need a real-time test. As per Brandom Huffman of 247sports, Dante Moore is more than ready to give the Ducks offense a new flair in his sophomore year.
Dan Lanning puts Dante Moore on a pedestal
Wholeheartedly. The Oregon head coach moved on from the Gabriel glory. Dwelling on the past is never his cup of tea. However, after years of training and handling elite stars like Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel, the Ducks’ head coach smells the talent from afar.
Dan Lanning now has the only gun on his table, his next go-to quarterback, Dante Moore, that red-shirted sophomore with potentially more than actual snaps. Moore has already been showcasing the signs to step up under the wise stewardship of Lanning, and what stands out the most is his burning passion for the game.
Lanning couldn’t laud it more. On the Bussin’ With The Boys show on the 15th of April, he made the first and foremost quality of a breakout star clear: “Ultimately, to be successful, you better love football, right?” Indeed. You can inject the skills, correct the errors, and make a player work on his limitations to bring the best out of him. But you can never spoon-feed the love he feels for the game. That makes a lot of difference in the performances.
Lanning got a lot of questions to answer about his budding QB1. “You’ve coached a lot of quarterbacks in your day. What is it about him that’s maybe unique or different from some of the others?” Dan Lanning was asked this question in an interview with an insider, Bri Amaran. He didn’t take very long to respond with clarity. “I think, um, well, Dante has all the ability in the world, has the arm talent. I’ve been pleased with like, just his intelligence to get us checked into a positive play.”
Now, it’s time to see how all this praise and hype finally translate to the scoreboard!
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