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Dakorien Moore Q&A: Oregon WR on Dante Moore, Ducks' Season and More
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- Dakorien Moore Q&A: Oregon WR on Dante Moore, Ducks' Season and More
Oregon's season has not gone as planned on campus in Eugene or as many predicted it would. The Ducks were the No. 2 team in the preseason rankings and widely believed to have a chance to win their first national championship.
Those aspirations were dashed before November began, as Oregon's three losses are already more than it has had in a single season since 2022. Earlier this week, quarterback Dante Moore was ruled out for the season and offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer was fired.
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Dakorien Moore, a former five-star receiver prospect and the Ducks' leading receiver this season, recently caught up with Athlon Sports to discuss his growth as a player and what has been a busy few months for the program. Moore, a member of the inaugural OIKOS All-Strength Team , also spoke about his partnership with the brand.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.)
Kyle Wood:Dakorien, I know you just got off the practice field, so I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. I want to start off with your performance as an individual this season. How have you grown since your freshman year?
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Dakorien Moore:I think I matured in a lot of ways, especially mentally — being mentally tough. A lot of things that I felt like I wasn't used to last year that I kind of had instinctively act upon. But this year I feel like I'm more prepared. I know how to act in certain situations. I've been under some of our veterans that have helped me in situations where I feel like I know more about the game now and how to act in terms of on the field and off the field. So I would definitely say maturity.
KW:What are some of those game situations where you feel more comfortable now? And then the same for off field as far as preparation and just kind of being a pro?
DM:Mostly, I'm just gonna say being able to take coaching, being able to talk with coaches. A lot of coaches yell and stuff like that. That's kind of like their thing, but being able to actually hear what they're saying over knowing that they're yelling at us. Being able to move through adversity, things don't go our way on the field — say we get a sack or say something just doesn't go our way on the field — being able to bounce back and get back to the next play knowing that that one matters just as much as the last one did.
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KW:I'm sure just being healthy has been a big part of your success. I know injuries were an issue for you last season. Is there anything different that you've done to keep your body right and stay on the field?
DM:Yeah, like you said, being in the treatment room, because injuries were a big thing for me last year, kind of took away most of my season last year. But I would say just being in the treatment room, getting ahead of things mostly, not knowing if things are gonna hurt down the line but staying on top of it so that I can prevent that from happening.
Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore (1) catches a pass against UCLA at Autzen Stadium on Oct. 10, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon.© Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
KW:I imagine your partnership with OIKOS helps with that. Can you tell me about what you're doing with them and how that factors into your training and readiness for the season?
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DM:Of course. Strength to me is being able to be powerful and be ready for my moment when it's called. So I think OIKOS helps with that in terms of off the field, making sure I stay prepared and healthy so that when I go on the field I can use all the strength that I have.
KW:This year has not gone as I'm sure you and your team would have wanted, coming into the season with a No. 2 ranking and already a couple of losses. What, in your estimation, is the root of the problem?
DM:Of course you can see on the field, it doesn't look through it the way we want it to. So I would just say, the root of the problem is people not doing their job. Not gonna throw no specific names, no specific positions, but just everyone doing the job that they're supposed to do on each and every play. Whether that's blocking, whether that's running a route, whether that's running the ball, whether that's checking the play, whether that's calling a different play from the sideline, giving us the right signal from the sideline — everyone has a specific job they're supposed to do. So if anything goes wrong, then someone, obviously, is not doing their job. We feel like we have good plays that we're told to run. So if it's not executed, something is going wrong. So, I'll just say the root of the problem is everyone not doing exactly what they're supposed to do on the plays.
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KW:This was a busy week of news around the team with Dante Moore being ruled out for the season. What did you first think when you found out that he was likely not going to be coming back this year?
DM:The players in general have a higher connection than he does with the media, of course, so we knew before it got out to the media. But initially when we found out it was kind of heartbreaking, being that everybody knew he was hurt, what happened to him for him to be in the situation he's in. We were kind of optimistic about it like, 'Oh he's gonna come back,' or not knowing how it's gonna be when he comes back, like if he's gonna start, or if he's gonna continue to play, if he might be a backup, how that might look for him. But we were all like, 'Yeah, you're gonna play, you're gonna come back, we're gonna be good.' But being that that's not the case anymore, it's just kind of heartbreaking being that we know how much he love the game, we know how much he's put into the game. He's one of our leaders, he's been showing that, you know, ever since he's been there. Even though he was here before I got here, they were just telling me when I was being recruited how much of a leader that he is, even though he was one of the younger guys. So, I just know it means a lot to him. So it meant a lot to me for him to not be out there. So kind of feel for him deeply. But like I said, we're staying positive on the inside, knowing that he's gonna be strong and fight, we're gonna be strong and fight for him. So we're all good on this end.
KW:How has he still been involved with the team since he was injured?
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DM:He's doing the exact same thing that he was doing before the news was announced. He's out there, giving us looks, making sure that we know what we're doing, helping the quarterbacks out, coaching as if he's the coach and player at the same time, sprinting, running with us. He's doing everything that he would do if he was out there playing still.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, left, greets Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore as the Oregon Ducks host the UCLA Bruins on Oct. 10, 2026, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.© Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
KW:What was it like midseason going from Dante to Dylan Raiola and Brock Thomas and making that adjustment as a receiver?
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DM:When Dylan came in, we already knew that they were gonna make sure that he was prepared for a moment of him playing. We feel like we are a dominant offense, a dominant team in general. So we knew we was going to put up a lot of points coming into this season. I just think last season, it was a time where Brock Thomas came in to fulfill the spot of being the quarterback for the second half or whenever the time came. So we knew Dylan was gonna come in and be in for some moments. So they already put him in a situation of practice to where he was running with the ones, running with the two, threes — whoever's gonna be out there, and same for Brock. So just making sure that they're prepared for their moments was the biggest thing, and we was all aware of the situation when it happened, so we wasn't surprised of who was gonna come in at the quarterback, 'cause we've already been doing reps with the quarterback that was in. So it was just about, finishing the play, finishing the moment and doing it for Dante.
KW:Oregon has had a midseason change at offensive coordinator this week as well. What can we expect from you and the rest of the offense in the second half of the season?
DM:Of course, any changes that are ever made in football in general is for that program to be successful, and we're never gonna make any changes for us to go down in any type of way. So I will say you can expect for us to score more points, get more first downs, make bigger plays and win more games.
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KW:It's been a disappointing season so far, but there are a lot of games still to be played. Where does this team turn to for motivation? Where does that come from?
DM:I would say this: We're very self-motivated. Mostly self-motivated being that we know kind of how everyone's gonna see us in terms of outside noise and stuff like that, where if we lose games, it's gonna be bad. If you win games, it's gonna be good. We're not really motivated from things like that, we're kind of self-motivated, mostly. So going out there, just playing the game motivates us by itself.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning watches his team before a game against Illinois at Gies Memorial Stadium on Oct. 24, 2026, in Champaign, Illinois.© Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
KW:What has the message in the locker room been from Dan Lanning to get the team to rally and stick together given the circumstances?
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DM:Mostly just us doing our job, finding the guy who's willing to go out there and put it all on the line for your teammates is mostly what we're looking for right now. So whoever can do that is, who's gonna be on the field, and we're doing anything we have to make sure that the job gets done. Like I said, everyone on every play has a specific job to do. So whoever is willing to go out there and do that on whatever play it is, is who's gonna be on the field.
KW:Oregon has one of the best home-field advantages in college football. You've experienced that as a player many times now. What goes into that crowd, the environment and just being such a tough out at home?
DM:We got traditions, the shout, we got a lot of other crazy traditions that I was very stunned to see when I had my first home game here. But it's definitely amazing, very loud even though we don't have the biggest stadium, it's definitely just crazy loud. It shows the energy that's rocking throughout the whole stadium. I would say it's very electric. I would describe it as very electric.
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KW:Looking ahead to the matchup this weekend against Northwestern. What have you seen about the Wildcats that stands out to you?
DM:We know a good amount about their offense, about their defense, just about their team in general that we're kind of scheming against. I can't really say details on that, but I can definitely say that they're a well-coached team. They play very hard. They're gonna be where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there, so they're very disciplined. I'm just looking forward to playing them.
KW:Sounds good, Dakorien. Thank you. Best of luck the rest of the season.
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DM:I appreciate you.
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This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
