Dan Lanning evaluates Dante Moore's debut as Oregon starting quarterback

A new era of Oregon football kicked off last Saturday as the Ducks steamrolled Montana State 59-13 to open the 2025 season.

The keys to the castle have finally been handed over to quarterback Dante Moore, who backed up Heisman finalist Dillon Gabriel last season. Moore looked good in his first start in Eugene, as he passed for 213 yards and three touchdowns.

Head coach Dan Lanning evaluated Moore’s play on Monday following the blowout victory. Lanning revealed that he liked seeing Moore’s progress and praised his ability to take care of the football.

“There were several. There were several plays (that showed his progress),” Lanning said. “The big catch by [Jay Harris] there over the middle that was an opportunity for him to redirect the protection and slide it away from a load-front, which is pretty unique.”

“He did a great job there and was able to hit an angle route there to [Harris], but there were a lot of moments where the first read wasn’t there and you see him going through the progression and getting to his second read. He took care of the ball and there were very few ball in jeopardy type plays. I thought he made good decisions and looked very poised back there.”

Moore evaluates his first game as Oregon’s starting quarterback

Moore transferred to Oregon from UCLA prior to the 2024 season. He played nine games for the Bruins as a freshman in 2022, passing for 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was the No. 3 ranked player in the Class of 2023 and is now shining for one of college football’s biggest brands.

“Having that next play focus,” Moore said postgame about what was most important going forward. “An example was when I got the first down and I was excited and adrenaline was pumping. I was fatigued the next play because I was so tired and lost a lot of energy. And something that, of course, was exciting during the moment, but plays like that would happen, but you got to focus on to the next play.”

“We did a great job. We did meet a lot of our goals, but I feel like my personal growth would probably be lasting through long drives, building my fatigue and make sure I’m pushing my teammates during the drives.”

Oregon and Moore will be back in action on Saturday at home against Oklahoma State. According to BetMGM, the Ducks are a whopping -28.5 point favorites over Mike Gundy and his Cowboys. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 PM on CBS.