The overwhelming offseason expectation among Oregon fans is that redshirt sophomore Dante Moore would replace Dillon Gabriel as the Ducks’ starting quarterback in 2025.
But, in the famous words of his College GameDay colleague Lee Corso, ESPN insider Pete Thamel might as well have said “not so fast, my friend” when discussing the Oregon QB situation during a Friday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
Thamel made it clear that while there’s still the expectation that Moore, a former Five-Star Plus+ recruit in the 2023 cycle who redshirted in Eugene last season after transferring in from UCLA, will be the Ducks’ QB1 this upcoming season, it’s hardly a certainty. Instead, Thamel suggested fellow redshirt sophomore QB Austin Novosad could work his way into some playing time in 2025, even if Moore ends up starting.
“I think that’s the expectation right now, as you look at Oregon, (Moore’s) obviously been in the program. They paid him a lot of money to be the backup last year,” Thamel said on Friday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if we do see some real snaps from (backup) Austin Novosad this year. Really talented young guy coming in. I would think that Dante Moore is ahead there right now, but I don’t know if it’s a hammer-lock on the job.”
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Moore was the No. 3 overall recruit and second-ranked quarterback in the 2023 class, according to Rivals Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all three primary recruiting media services. Meanwhile, Novosad was the 10th-ranked quarterback and No. 113 overall recruit in the same 2023 class when he originally signed with Oregon.
Moore is expected to take over the Ducks’ explosive offense from Gabriel, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist after throwing for 3,857 yards and 30 touchdowns to six interceptions in 2024. Despite limited opportunities while redshirting in 2024, Moore showed his potential going 7-of-8 passing (87.5-percent) for 49 yards while being utilized in mostly mop-up duty last season. Moore completed 53.5-percent of his passes (114-of-213) for 1,610 yards and 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions while starting five of his nine games at UCLA in 2023.
Dan Lanning states nothing stood out to him in Dante Moore’s scrimmage performance
Just three weeks away from Oregon‘s season opener against Montana State however, it appears as if Moore didn’t quite produce in the Ducks’ first scrimmage on Saturday. Oregon head coach Dan Lanning revealed that the defense dominated in the scrimmage, extremely limiting Moore and his production.
“I don’t know that anything necessarily stood out,” Lanning said. “Like I said, I think defense won the day. They were able to get some three-and-outs. The [offense] operated efficiently but we just didn’t create any explosives and didn’t have some of the downfield passing attack that we have had in other days of fall camp. I’ve come in here before and told you that offense had won the day, but today I feel like defense won that.”
Moore has big shoes to fill in Eugene, as Dillon Gabriel was one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football last season. Gabriel passed for 3,857 yards, 30 touchdowns and just six interceptions in his lone season as a Duck, leading to him getting drafted in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
