Oregon’s Dante Moore Not Expected to Return This Season

Coach Dan Lanning announced on Monday night that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is likely out for the rest of the season.

Moore hasn’t played since suffering a concussion from a late hit during a game against Southern California in late September. Although he resumed practice earlier this month, he remains in concussion protocol.

“I’m not anticipating him being back, no,” Lanning mentioned during his weekly press briefing in Eugene.

Moore chose to return for his senior year instead of entering the NFL draft, where he was projected to be a top-10 pick. The Ducks started the season ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25, and Moore was viewed as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. However, the team currently holds a 4-3 record and is unranked.

This season, Moore, 21, has thrown for 926 yards and nine touchdowns without any interceptions across four games.

“I think if it was up to Dante in any shape, way, he would want to be out there playing for the guys. But unfortunately, it’s not really up to Dante. It’s not really up to me,” Lanning said. “We can control the setting at practice where he’s able to do things for us, where that’s not always the case in the game. And you know, we said before that this is a serious deal that he’ll 100 percent be able to make a full recovery from. That hasn’t changed; I definitely feel that way. But for him to be out there on the field for us right now, that’s not going to happen.”

Lanning refrained from commenting on whether Moore might return to Oregon next season.

“We’d love to have Dante out there. He’s still going to be a big part of this team and helping us move forward, finding opportunities for us to be better. I can tell you, we’re getting one of the best scout team quarterback looks every single week in practice, and he looks good out there,” he noted.

Last season, Moore threw for 3,565 yards, netting 30 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. Oregon only had one loss during the regular season, which came at home against Indiana, and later lost to the same team again in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

A five-star recruit, Moore began his college career at UCLA, starting five games as a freshman and throwing for 1,610 yards, with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He later transferred to Oregon, where he spent 2024 as the backup to Dillon Gabriel, eventually taking a redshirt year.

Dylan Raiola stepped in for Moore against the Trojans and threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-27 win. However, he faced challenges in a subsequent game, completing just 6 of 19 passes for 43 yards with two interceptions in a 17-15 loss to UCLA.

Third-string quarterback Brock Turner started the following week against Nebraska but struggled. Raiola came in and connected with Jamari Johnson on a 4-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds, securing a 17-14 win for Oregon.

Raiola completed 27 of 41 passes for 246 yards in the recent 21-10 loss to Illinois, which pretty much ended the Ducks’ playoff aspirations. The day after that game, Oregon dismissed offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer.

Looking ahead, the Ducks are set to host No. 20 Northwestern this Saturday.