The Oregon Ducks have been spoiled with some elite quarterbacks over the years with guys like Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel and even Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota over a decade ago.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is making an early case to be added to that list if his season-opening performance against Montana State on Saturday was any indication. The No. 7-ranked Ducks cruised to a 59-13 win in what was an all-around team victory, but Moore stood out among the rest.
However, it appears that it's still going to take a few more games before the rest of the country starts to take notice of his star-studded capablites.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook's updated Heisman Trophy odds, Moore remains outside the top 10 in best odds to win the award, regardless of position. This is despite a woeful season-opening performance from Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, who entered week 1 as the favorite on FanDuel.
Here is the current top 10, regardless of position:
In the 14-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, Manning and the Texas offense struggled mightily. He finished the game 17 of 30 passing for 170 yards, one touchdown and one pick, all while missing some open receivers on short throws down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Moore finished his season opener 18 of 23 passing for 213 yards, three touchdowns and no picks along with three carries for 18 yards. Yes, this came against an FCS opponent and not the defending national champions, but it's clear that Moore looked much more polished than Manning and deserves to at least be in the top 10 of the updated odds.
It's only one game, but if Manning's performance was any glimpse of how his season could play out, there's not much of a current debate on whether he should be ahead of Moore or not in the Heisman debate.
Is the conversation somewhat pointless after Week 1? Probably. But that's all of the available info we have right now, so there's currently nothing else to go off of.
But ask Moore, and it's almost a guarantee he has bigger things in mind at this point.
"It's been two years man. It's been a blessing to be able to play here at the University of Oregon in front of a great crowd, great fans," Moore said. "But probably the best thing was the way we moved the ball as a whole unit. Offense did a great job ... we had a great run game...from that standpoint when you have a good run game, you can have a good pass game."
Moore will look to build off of his impressive performance when the Ducks host the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday.
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