Dante Moore will be Oregon’s starting quarterback for the team’s 2025 season opener against Montana State, sources have confirmed. The former highly-touted recruit, who transferred from UCLA after the 2023 season, was the clear favorite to secure the position over Austin Novosad and Luke Moga after serving as Dillon Gabriel’s backup last year.
Moore’s journey to the starting role has been turbulent. As a freshman at UCLA, he had an inconsistent season, initially winning the starting job before being benched midway through the year following a loss to Oregon State. He showed significant promise in his first three collegiate games, throwing for 615 yards and seven touchdowns. However, he finished his lone season with the Bruins with 1,610 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. After transferring to Oregon, he saw limited action in 2024, appearing in just four games and attempting only eight passes behind Gabriel.
His promotion continues a successful trend for the Ducks under coach Dan Lanning, who has exclusively started transfer quarterbacks since his arrival. The program first found success with Auburn transfer Bo Nix, a two-year starter who became a first-round NFL Draft pick. After Nix’s departure, Oregon landed both Gabriel and Moore from the portal, securing its quarterback situation for the immediate and long-term future. This year, the program opted against adding a transfer quarterback, instead signing four-star prospect Akili Smith Jr.
Moore’s move is also indicative of the volatility among the elite 2023 quarterback recruiting class. With the exception of Texas’s Arch Manning, nearly every other top-ranked quarterback from that cycle, including Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee to UCLA) and Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma to Auburn), has transferred at least once.
Now at the helm of an Oregon offense that was one of the nation’s most productive in 2024 en route to a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff berth, Moore has the opportunity to realize his full potential. He will be surrounded by more talent than he had at UCLA, though the status of star wide receiver Evan Stewart remains uncertain after he suffered a knee injury in the spring.
To bolster the receiving corps, the Ducks added Malik Benson from the transfer portal and return key contributors Justius Lowe and Gary Bryant Jr. The offense could also receive a significant boost from incoming five-star recruit Dakorien Moore, the No. 9 overall player in the 2025 class. After a year of development, the starting role is now Moore’s to command as he aims to lead Oregon back to the CFP.
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