Dan Lanning calls Dante Moore the best quarterback in college football after win vs. Penn State

If fans weren’t familiar with Dante Moore‘s game ahead of Week 5, they are now. Moore was spectacular in Oregon‘s 30-24 win over Penn State on Saturday. After the game, Ducks head coach Dan Lanning raved about his redshirt sophomore QB.

“I think we have the best quarterback in college football,” Lanning said. “… That guy’s composure, his poise, even the big play at the end there in the first overtime — we’re about to throw a screen to the boundary and he has the wherewithal to not throw to the boundary and turn around, get it thrown back to the field and get a fourth-and-one. 

“… I came up and talked to him about, ‘Hey, if we go to fourth down here, here’s what I’m thinking.’ He’s like, ‘Coach, let’s just get (it on) third down.’ And he did it. It just tells you a little bit about that guy we got playing for us.”

In the win, Moore completed 29-of-his-39 pass attempts for 248 yards and three touchdowns, without throwing an interception. Moore also logged 35 rushing yards on 10 carries. He was never sacked in the game.

Moore not only shined for his team, but out-performed Penn State’s Drew Allar, who entered the season as one of the top 2026 NFL Draft prospect. Allar recorded just 14 completions in the contest for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing an interception. He notched 42 rushing yards on nine carries.

Moore’s rise to the top of the college football landscape has been nothing short of meteoric. He saw limited action for Oregon last season, sitting behind QB Dillon Gabriel.

Alas, he didn’t settle, and continued to work behind the scenes. Evidently, Dan Lanning liked what he saw because, unlike many teams in America, Oregon didn’t search for a new QB in the transfer portal this past offseason.

Some analysts believed Lanning’s decision to put his faith in Dante Moore was a mistake. However, with each week of the college football season, Moore continues to prove his critics wrong.

With the win, Oregon improved to 5-0 and jumped to No. 2 in the AP Top 25. Lanning couldn’t be happier for his team.

“Just an unbelievable effort by our players, unbelievable effort by our coaches,” Lanning said after the win. “Our coaches had a great game plan going into this game against a really tough team. I thought our players handled the crowd. The crowd didn’t make a single play, right, our players made plays today. That showed up in this game.”