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Oregon's Dante Moore Sure Looks Like an NFL Franchise QB
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- Oregon's Dante Moore Sure Looks Like an NFL Franchise QB
Heading into the 2025 college football season, the early quarterback rankings for next year's NFL Draft featured names like Texas ' Arch Manning , Clemson's Cade Klubnik , Penn State 's Drew Allar , LSU 's Garrett Nussmeier , and South Carolina 's LaNorris Sellers , among others.
But a month into this year's on-field action, some of the biggest names have failed to live up to the preseason hype, others have emerged to fill the void, and Oregon 's Dante Moore might be the biggest riser of the bunch.
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Moore had a strong start to the year, putting up impressive numbers through the Ducks ' first four games, but he had yet to face a true test from a quality opponent.
That all changed Saturday night, when Moore led Oregon into Happy Valley, complete with the "White Out" treatment from 100,000+ against No. 3 Penn State.
After a defensive slugfest in the first half that sent both teams back to the locker room tied at three points apiece, Moore came alive in the second half, helping the Ducks build a 17-3 lead against a stout Nittany Lions defense and one of the most hostile road crowds in the entire country.
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When Penn State came back to tie the game in the final moments and send things into overtime, Moore wasn't fazed one bit. After trading scores in the first overtime, Moore showed off his poise, athleticism and arm talent on what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown to start the second overtime period:
Moore finished the night 29-of-39 passing for 248 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. That gives him 14 touchdown passes to just one interception through five games so far this season, showing a balance of big-play production and the ability to take care of the football that NFL teams absolutely love in a quarterback prospect.
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Earlier in the game, Moore showed off his ability to escape a messy pocket, keep his eyes downfield, and take a calculated gamble with confidence that his arm (and his teammate) would back him up:
The truly special quarterbacks at the next level know how to straddle that line between confidence and recklessness, and those are the kinds of plays that will tell NFL teams that Moore knows how to check that box, especially on the road against an elite opponent.
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In a year where so many preseason darlings have failed to rise to the occasion and solidify themselves as truly elite prospects at the game's most important position, Moore performance in a massive game Saturday night is likely to carry a ton of weight with NFL decision-makers when next April rolls around.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Sep 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
