Dante Moore reacts to national praise, Heisman hype

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has surged into the lead of the On3 national experts’ weekly Heisman Trophy poll, courtesy of a strong start to the season. He opened up on what all the hype has been like recently.

Moore certainly seems to be taking things in stride. While he’s deserving of all the hype, he also pointed to his teammates and his faith as a major reason for his success.

“Yeah, I give all the glory to God,” Moore said. “Ever since I could say, you know, seventh grade when I got my first offers, from that day on it’s kind of been things, media, people talking about me. And it’s been just true blessings because everything in my life was never just given to me. I had to work for it. I just know with my hard work and dedication to the game of football that things would come and fall in your hands.”

Dante Moore is coming off arguably his best game of the season, a monster performance in an overtime win at Penn State. He threw for 248 yards and three scores, while also rushing for 35 yards in the contest.

He kept Oregon cool, calm and collected in a very hostile road environment. The performance has just about everyone singing his praises nationally.

Yet the talented former five-star prospect humbly deflected much of the praise this week. For Dante Moore, it’s all about the team goals.

“Overall these are all blessings, are all great things as a kid you dream of,” he said. “But overall I think Jabbar Muhammad said it best, team success, that’s when player success comes with it.

“I feel like overall we’re 1-0 every week is our mindset as a team. Without the receivers, without the O-linemen not giving up any sacks, without the people around me I would never have what I have now. So overall I feel like none of these things are coming or just stuff I’m doing with myself. It’s a team thing. But it’s just blessings, though. Like I said, I give the glory to God.”

So far this season, Dante Moore has gone 100-of-134 passing for 1,210 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has thrown just one interception, while he has also rushed for 122 yards.

He’s doing enough to merit serious Heisman Trophy consideration, which speaks to his impact at Oregon. And with his attitude, there are plenty who will get behind him as a worthy potential recipient of the award should Moore continue to post the kind of numbers he has been.