OSU Breaks Down What Success Looks like Against Future First-Round Oregon QB Dante Moore

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STILLWATER — Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was a somewhat surprising returner over the offseason considering what draft analysts thought of him.

The Athletic and ESPN have both listed him as the second overall pick or higher. Now he leads the No. 6 Ducks to Stillwater.

“This guy is super talented, right?” coach Eric Morris said. “Projected top-10 pick, if you just sit back there and give him a ton of time to go through reads, he’s probably going to do a pretty good job getting the ball to where it needs to go.

“So being able to get him off of his spot at some point, and that’s easier said than done. They’re pretty good up front and have a good running game and a balanced attack, so coach (Skyler) Cassity will have to do the same thing and keep them off balance at times and be able to mix up the picture for him. Any good quarterback, if you keep the picture the same, they’re going to go through and pick you apart a little bit.”

With the lack of competitiveness when these teams met last year, Moore might as well have been playing a video game on freshman difficulty while OSU appeared to be playing on Heisman.

The opener didn’t give a lot of reason to believe the result will be different this time around, but it’s possible the Cowboys can at least make Moore work for it this year.

“He’s got a big arm, so I mean he can launch that thing,” OSU nickel Christian Bodnar said. “So that’s the number one thing. And I said he makes quick and smart decisions with the football. So that is gonna be one thing to see for sure. But we’re gonna get the ball off him.”

Moore completed 3-of-5 deep passes (20-plus yards) for 99 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. He completed 3-of-4 in the 10-19 yard range for 124 yards and another touchdown.

Last season, PFF graded him as the best deep-ball thrower in the country with an overall grade of 98.5. Mestemaker finished 50th among players with at least 15 such attempts, with a grade of 88.8.

Moore completed 55% of his 55 serious attempts for 962 yards, 15 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Oklahoma State allowed 2-of-4 deep shots against TU, but corner LaDainian Fields did come up with one interception and nearly got a second.

OSU also held TU to 1-of-4 in the medium range (10-19 yards), so there’s a case to be made that the secondary can at least force Moore to work for it when he looks downfield.

Morris praised Moore’s ability to get the ball out quickly and accurately. Linebacker Tate Romney seemed to pick up where the Cowboys coach left off when he walked into the press conference a few minutes later.

“He’s very accurate, and obviously he’s a guy with experience now,” Romney said. “Just, he’s able to go through his progressions and put the ball where he wants it to.”

Moore finished last season fourth among qualified quarterbacks, completing 71.6% of his passes while throwing only 10 interceptions on 412 attempts. Only first overall pick Fernando Mendoza (6 INTs on 382 attempts) and Moore’s current backup Dylan Raoila (6 INTs on 251 attempts at Nebraska) had a higher completion percentage and fewer interceptions while still dropping back at least 250 times.

Bodnar only played a handful of defensive snaps in the Fiesta Bowl when then-No. 8 Oregon demolished Liberty in the 2023 postseason. The names have changed quite a bit since then, as Oregon was led by Bo Nix, but the OSU defensive back said he sees a lot of similarities when it comes to the type of players suiting up for the Ducks.

On Tuesday, he was asked how the Cowboys can counter Oregon’s speed.

“You just kind of have to play top down on a lot of stuff,” Bodnar said. “You know, kind of take the speed off of them by, you know, touching them up a little bit, getting some hands on, and just forcing them to take the easy way, the easy throws.”