Ducks zero in on starting quarterback, with Dante Moore as the favorite

Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein has a relatively new set of duties this month. 

He faces the task of getting the Ducks’ next quarterback up to speed — a process that hasn’t required much heavy lifting in his first two seasons.

In year one, Stein worked with Bo Nix, who entered 2023 with 48 career starts and who would finish third in the Heisman voting.

In year two, he had Dillon Gabriel, who arrived with 51 career starts and who also finished third in the Heisman race.

In 2025, Oregon’s entire QB room — Dante Moore, Austin Novosad, Luke Moga, Akili Smith Jr., Brock Thomas, Ryder Hayes and Mark Wiepert — has five career starts combined, all belonging to Moore, a redshirt sophomore.

For Stein, heading into Week 1 with this type of inexperience is something he hasn’t faced in his college coaching career.

“I’ve been crazy blessed,” Stein said. “The last time it was like this for me was in 2018 at Lake Travis High School.”

Back then, Stein converted one-time receiver Hudson Card into a quarterback. Card went on to start 26 college games at Texas and Purdue. If Card was clay for Stein to mold, Moore is more like marble: a former five-star recruit whose 2023 commitment to Oregon made headlines — and whose flip to UCLA made bigger ones.

When Moore returned to Oregon after a lackluster freshman year in Westwood, Stein started by focusing on the positives.

“I got onto Pro Football Focus and just watched all of his completions,” Stein said. “Took out all the picks and all that — the young mistakes a lot of quarterbacks make when they’re thrown into a role with limited offensive line play, getting sacked and running for your life. That can be kind of detrimental for a young quarterback. But what I saw on the tape were ‘wow’ throws. Corner routes, scramble throws — plays where you’re like, ‘Dang, that was a ball.’ When those kept showing up on completions, it was like, ‘Dude, this guy’s got elite arm talent.’”

And a clean slate. Yes, Nix and Gabriel were leaders from the moment they arrived, but both had to adjust to Oregon after years in other systems.

“There were growing moments with Bo. We tweaked some things, changed some terminology,” Stein said. “Then, Dillon was coming out here out of a completely different system, and in this style of offense it had its growing moments early.”

Stein pointed to Gabriel’s red zone struggles in 2024 against UCLA and Michigan State.

“He was battling through his own process with us,” Stein said. “It was not an inexperienced quarterback, but it was new to this place.”

This year’s room is the opposite profile: light on experience, heavy on familiarity. Outside of true freshman Akili Smith Jr., every scholarship quarterback has at least a year in Stein’s playbook.

“The good thing is Dante’s now in year two here,” Stein said. “(Austin Novosad) is in year three. Brock (Thomas) is in year three. Luke (Moga) is in year two. That gives me a lot of peace at night knowing that they know the signals, they know the calls, they know the protections, they know our run checks. They know how we play offense. I’m really excited to see them take off this year and help us win games.”

Signs point to Moore

As for who helps Oregon win the most games, the Ducks aren’t ready to say. Stein said the competition is ongoing and that any announcement for Week 1 against Montana State will likely come next week. Still, the hints are hard to miss.

Maybe it’s that Moore just signed an endorsement deal with Beats by Dre as one of college football’s “Beats Elite.”

Maybe it’s that he’s the only quarterback on the roster with starting experience.

Maybe it’s that Stein keeps invoking a familiar comp from his own playing days at Louisville. 

“(Moore) wears five; he’s got a glove on his left hand. I played with Teddy Bridgewater. He does remind me a lot of Teddy,” Stein said. “Teddy threw the glove on his right hand, but he’s just got that kind of moxie, that ‘it’ factor that people just gravitate toward.”

In the end, Stein trusts the good he’s seen on Moore’s tape — and Moore says the last year has sharpened how he works.

“My preparation this year is going to be (through) the roof,” Moore said. “Having Dillon (Gabriel) last year and seeing how he prepared and put our team in great positions, I feel like I learned a lot from him.

“Of course, every quarterback can throw the ball. Everybody can make the right check. But I just feel like the preparation and understanding of what the defense is going to bring in the game — I feel like my separation is my preparation.”