Dante Moore's Maturity On Full Display In Response To Oregon Ducks' Loss

The quarterback threw for 186 yards and one touchdown versus the Hoosiers, but threw two second-half interceptions and was sacked six times.

Moore could’ve easily been down on himself after the game. Instead, he talked about ways he can improve and shared his mindset and his leadership approach heading into week 8.

“Nobody is perfect, except for God. Everybody is going to make their mistakes and, of course, it's about how you bounce back, but I've got to make sure I'm continuing to talk to the offense and defensive side of the ball,” Moore said.

“When the defense comes off, even if they get scored on, make sure that I'm staying on their head, and making sure that the offense is going to punch it in for them,” he continued. “So, just be more of a communicator on the field when things are going bad.”

Oregon only plays one top-25 team in its six remaining regular-season games, which is a No. 20 USC Trojans squad at home in Eugene. The Ducks have an opportunity to start a new winning streak to end the regular season – one that Moore would likely be at the center of.  

Coach Dan Lanning admitted after the loss that the Hoosiers planned well for the game and that he doesn’t think Moore’s confidence changed following the defeat.

“Adversity is real, right? You're going to face it at some point in your career. It's about how you respond to it,” Lanning said. “We didn't have a fastball today. They did a great job in this game.

“Everybody wants to look at players and say, 'Oh this, this is the reason.' That was a team effort and that was a team loss,” Lanning continued. “And their team played better than us. It wasn't Dante. It was the whole group, the coaching staff, the players. So ultimately, Dante's gonna look at this as an opportunity to learn from it as well. We'll grow from it.”

Career Season For Moore

The Ducks’ signal-caller made a rare choice when he decided to transfer to Oregon, sit for a year and learn in 2024. The mature decision has seemingly paid off. Even though his chances at winning the Heisman Trophy significantly decreased in week 7, he’s still completing 72 percent of his passes and has totaled 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions through six games.

Moore was especially emotional following Oregon’s double-overtime victory to Penn State in week 5. Given his college football journey, which included struggles as a teenage quarterback for the UCLA Bruins in 2023, he explained his perspective.

“Ever since 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 true blessings,” Moore said. “Because everything in my life was never just given to me I'd work for. And I just know, with my hard work and dedication to the game of football, that things will come and fall in your hands.”

“So overall, these are all blessings - are great things as a kid you dream of,” Moore continued. “But overall, I think Jabbar Muhammad said it best. Team success, that's when player success comes with it. Like overall, 1-0 every week is our mindset of the team.”

Moore said that the Ducks may be a young team, but they put on their blinders when it comes to outside noise. That might be the type of approach Moore and Oregon need if they want to use the blemish on its record as an opportunity to grow rather than a season definer.