Oregon Quarterback Dante Moore Ruled Out for Remainder of Season

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore will not play for the remainder of the season, head coach Dan Lanning announced Monday evening. Moore has been sidelined since sustaining a concussion during a late hit in the team's late September game against Southern California. Although he resumed practicing earlier this month, he has remained in concussion protocol, preventing his return to game action.

Moore, who returned to school for his sophomore season instead of declaring for the NFL draft where he was projected as a potential top-10 pick, has not played since the USC game. The Oregon Ducks, once ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and considered a College Football Playoff contender, now stand at 4-3 and are unranked.

In four games this season before his injury, the 21-year-old Moore threw for 926 yards and nine touchdowns without an interception. Lanning confirmed Moore's continued absence during his weekly news conference, stating, "I’m not anticipating him being back, no."

"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, 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 also declined to speculate on whether Moore might return to Oregon for the following season. He added that Moore will continue to be an important part of the team, assisting in practices. "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," Lanning said.

Last season, Moore threw for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. In his freshman year at UCLA, he started five games, accumulating 1,610 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He then transferred to Oregon in 2024, serving as Dillon Gabriel’s backup and taking a redshirt.

Following Moore's injury, Dylan Raiola took over as the starting quarterback. Raiola threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over USC. However, he struggled in a subsequent 17-15 loss to UCLA, completing 6 of 19 passes for 43 yards and two interceptions. Brock Turner then started the following game against Nebraska before Raiola returned to lead a game-winning drive. In Oregon's most recent 21-10 loss to Illinois, Raiola completed 27 of 41 passes for 246 yards. The day after that loss, Oregon fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer. The Ducks are scheduled to host No. 20 Northwestern on Saturday.