Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
Though there were countless highlights to choose from during Oregon’s 66-point demolition of Oklahoma State last weekend, a game in which the Ducks secured their largest-ever margin of victory over a Power 4 opponent, the one that set social media ablaze began with a free rusher bearing down on quarterback Dante Moore.
Uncertain whether his tailback, Noah Whittington, could slide over in time to pick up the blitzing linebacker, Moore instinctively spun to his right and rolled outside the pocket toward the hashmarks. Then, he set his feet, squared his shoulders and held his follow-through like a 3-point shooter while lofting a perfect pass down the sideline toward true freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore, the five-star phenom and No. 1 recruit in the country at his position, a title that previously belonged to Ohio State standout Jeremiah Smith.
From there, Dakorien Moore, who caught the ball some 37 yards downfield, shimmied back over the middle — at which point he forced two flailing defenders to collide — and raced diagonally into the end zone for a breathtaking touchdown, the first of his highly anticipated collegiate career. It was a thing of beauty from one Moore to another.
“He’s an elite passer,” Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein told me when discussing Dante Moore in a recent phone conversation, “and there are certain things I can’t teach. God gave him the ability to throw the ball when he was born, and we try to capitalize on his skill sets with our passing game and with our approach every single game.”
Having inherited the starting job from Dillon Gabriel, whose one-year stint with the Ducks produced an undefeated regular season and the first Big Ten championship in school history, Moore is now the maestro for what appears to be one of the sport’s most diverse and explosive offenses. In winning its first two games by a combined score of 128-16, which is currently the largest point differential in college football, Oregon has filleted opponents with 18 total touchdowns and an average gain of more than 9 yards per play.
Five different Oregon players have already found the end zone as runners this season, including Dakorien Moore on a lovely 25-yard end around against Oklahoma State, and four different pass catchers have hauled in scores from the team’s burgeoning Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback.
The stunning breadth of Oregon’s attack, which will be on display Saturday when the fourth-ranked Ducks visit Northwestern for “Big Noon Saturday” (Saturday, noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), reflects a new identity that runs in contrast to last year’s more star-centric approach. Gone is leading tailback Jordan James, a fifth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers, whose tally of 1,267 rushing yards was more than double that of his closest teammate. Gone, too, are dominant wide receiver Tez Johnson, a seventh-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and elite tight end Terrance Ferguson, a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams, whose totals of 83 catches and 43 catches, respectively, dwarfed everyone else at their positions.
Dante Moore #5 has helped guide Oregon to a 2-0 start this season. (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
This year’s version of the Ducks’ offense, which certainly looks good enough for the Ducks to be in contention for a national championship, is invoking a far more balanced approach.
“As a quarterback,” Moore told me in a recent phone conversation, “it’s kind of like the point guard on the basketball court. Just helping make sure that everything is running the right way and making sure that I’m giving the ball to the playmakers.”
It’s a role that Moore is performing exceptionally well with 479 passing yards, six touchdowns and a completion rate of 77.3% that fits nicely between the marks established by Gabriel (72.8%) and predecessor Bo Nix (77.9%) during the last two campaigns. Now a redshirt sophomore, Moore was originally committed to Oregon from July 8, 2022, through early December that same year, a stretch that overlapped with his senior season at Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School in Detroit, where he developed into a five-star recruit and the No. 4 overall prospect in the country. But Moore flipped his pledge during the early signing period and wound up enrolling at UCLA, ultimately making five starts as a true freshman for former head coach Chip Kelly with decidedly mixed results. He entered the transfer portal on Dec. 4, 2023, and recommitted to Oregon shortly before Christmas.
Since then, Stein told me, Moore has done nothing but seek opportunities for growth and development without so much as a whimper for additional playing time. Not when Gabriel’s arrival all but assured that he’d be a backup in 2024. Not this past spring and summer when head coach Dan Lanning, ever the competitor, declined to publicly name a starter in the battle between Moore and Austin Novosad, a former four-star recruit, prior to the team’s opener against Montana State.
But once Moore got his chance, there’s no denying how much he’s sizzled in his first two starts: He has yet to register a turnover-worthy play so far this season, according to Pro Football Focus, and he has an average release time of just 2.6 seconds.
When taken together, those statistics suggest Moore is playing with an enviable blend of accuracy and decisiveness that helps explain why Oregon’s skill players have already amassed more than 300 yards after the catch. He’s placing the ball exactly where it needs to be to maximize production.
“Some guys just have that ‘it’ factor and that ability to put the ball in certain places that other people might not be able to,” Stein told me. “I think what Dante does such a good job of is just calmness inside the confines of a pocket and being able to anticipate throws.”
Said Moore: “I want to make sure it’s easiest for them to catch and run with the ball. As a quarterback, it’s important that you are very precise with your location of where you’re putting the football on the receiver’s body. It’s [about] proteger o futebol e não causar rotatividade. Mas temos muitos ótimos playmakers, então realmente [I’m just] dando a eles uma chance e jogando a bola em qualquer lugar da área. Eles garantirão que eles busquem isso para você. “
Isso inclui nomes familiares em rápido desenvolvimento, como Kenyon Sadiq, que tem três capturas por 60 jardas e um touchdown e pode ser uma escolha no início da rodada no NFL Draft do próximo ano. Inclui estrelas iniciantes como Dakorien Moore, que pegou três passes por 26 jardas em uma estréia relativamente tranquila contra o estado de Montana – Além de seu espetacular obstáculo de um zagueiro ao longo da linha lateral – Antes de explodir para marcar um touchdown cada um como corredor e um receptor na semana passada. E inclui trabalhadores veteranos como os ex -Alabama/Florida State Malik Benson e o ex -recebedor da USC, Gary Bryant Jr., ambos vinculados pela liderança da equipe em recepções (sete) e recebendo touchdowns (dois) após a espera pacientemente por trás de múltiplos futuros profissionais para obter a chance de ganhar papéis mais proeminentes.
O reator veio de um ataque que rasgou os dois primeiros oponentes do Oregon por 565 jardas e 10 touchdowns combinados – totais sísmicos que classificam o oitavo no país e o segundo no país, respectivamente. Os sete carregamentos dos Ducks de mais de 20 jardas pertencem a três backs diferentes, um receptor amplo e um quarterback de backup, com a Texas Tech sendo a única equipe do Power 4 que pode corresponder ao número de corridas explosivas do Oregon. Tudo isso é possível por uma linha ofensiva reconstruída que apenas rendeu três tackles por derrota e ainda não permitiu um saco, apesar de introduzir três iniciantes plug-and-play no portal de transferência, incluindo os dois tackles ofensivos.
“Isso também remonta à liderança que temos em nossa equipe”, disse Lanning. “Dos veteranos, daqueles caras sendo capazes de ver como é, como eles precisam se preparar e depois uma boa avaliação, bom desenvolvimento desses caras, colocando -os em posição de jogar. Então é um crédito para nossos treinadores e nossos jogadores”.
Dan Lanning possui um recorde de 37-6 durante seu tempo como treinador do Oregon. (Foto de Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)
Quando Lanning estava sentado para sua entrevista coletiva semanal na segunda -feira, dois dias afastados do estadual de Oklahoma pelo estado de Oklahoma, ele tinha algum número próprio para compartilhar. Oitenta e um jogadores entraram em campo contra os Cowboys, disse Lanning, e um impressionante 19 deles tocou a bola. Oito jogadores ofensivos diferentes marcaram touchdowns, para o deleite de Moore.
É difícil imaginar outro quarterback com um elenco de apoio mais profundo.
“Temos muitos jogadores bons”, disse Stein, “e acho que quando seu quarterback está jogando bem e encontrando pessoas diferentes em campo, que também ajuda, você sabe? Então, acho que fizemos um ótimo trabalho como uma equipe nesta temporada – provavelmente mais do que nunca – de garantir que tenhamos o pessoal certo no campo para as peças específicas que estamos executando e tentando mostrar suas habilidades”.
Michael Cohen Cubra o futebol universitário e o basquete universitário da Fox Sports. Siga -o @Michael_Cohen13.
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