QUAAAACK! UCLA QB Dante Moore announces transfer to Oregon
Dante Moore was once thought to be the heir apparent to Bo Nix and the future of the quarterback position at Oregon. After taking a detour to Los Angeles, the future appears to back in the Michigan native's hands.
Moore announced his decision to transfer Oregon Monday after one season at UCLA.
The former five-star recruit, who was committed to the Ducks for over five months last year, built a strong bond with Dan Lanning's program. However, Kenny Dillingham's departure from Oregon as offensive coordinator allowed Chip Kelly and the Bruins to make one last push last December.
The pitch was convincing enough that Moore eventually changed his mind and signed with UCLA. An inconsistent season in Westwood, which featured appearances in nine games and five starts, ended with Moore struggling behind a problematic offensive line for the Bruins.
Now, he will get a fresh start and will have time do develop his skill set as he presumably works behind senior transfer Dillon Gabriel during the 2024 season.
Moore has four years to play three seasons as he continues his career with the Ducks.
The current No. 3-ranked transfer prospect in the Rivals rankings finished his freshman season at UCLA with 1,610 yards passing to go with 11 touchdown passes. He struggled with turnovers this year and finished the season with nine interceptions.
Moore passes for a season-high 290 yards on two occasions in games against San Diego State and Washington State.
Lanning and offensive coordinator Will Stein have reloaded the quarterback room after Nix's impending departure adding four-star 2024 recruit Luke Moga — a midyear enrollee — in addition to Gabriel (Oklahoma) and Moore (UCLA) through the transfer portal. The Ducks also have 2023 Rivals100 member Austin Novosad as part of the group as well.
Moore was rated the No. 4 prospect and the No. 3 pro-style quarterback by Rivals in the 2023 class. Oregon earned his original pledge last July after beating out many of the top programs across the country.
"The most important thing, of course, to me this whole recruiting process is of course going to a program that's going to develop quarterbacks," Moore told DSA prior to making his original commitment to the Ducks in July 2022. "The main thing being a player going into high school and into college is development. Of course the other piece would be facility-wise, all the attributes to help me reach my goal through college ... having playmakers around you helping you be the best you can be on the field."
Moore became the gem of a big day for the Ducks as was one of three transfer players to announce a commitment to the program Monday. Indiana offensive lineman Matthew Bedford flipped his pledge from Colorado earlier in the afternoon, and that announcement followed a commitment from Northwest Missouri State running back Jay Harris to begin the day.
The news of Moore's transfer commitment to the Ducks falls exactly one day short of a year since his commitment to UCLA.