This season’s Peach Bowl was a memory that will be burned on the minds of the Oregon Ducks and their fan base for the foreseeable future.
In what was a 56-22 loss at the hands of the No. 1-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff, No. 5 Oregon saw its fans substantially outnumbered by Indiana fans in the seats at Mercedes-Benz Stadium; Ducks quarterback Dante Moore couldn’t believe what he saw.
“I thought it was just the red seats, but it was the Indiana fans,” Moore said after the game about the crowd being primarily Indiana fans. “They had a ton of fans here. Of course, I’m just glad that the fans of Oregon were able to make it. I’m glad they came. We thought we could go verbal, speaking cadence, but it was pretty loud. At the end of the day, it’s a dome. It gets pretty loud, but we prepared for a loud situation, change up the cadence, but they came out and showed out.”
Moore finished the season-ending loss with 285 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, one interception and a 134.7 passer rating, while completing 61.5% of his passes. He threw a pick-six on the first play from scrimmage, lost two fumbles and the Ducks trailed 35-7 at halftime and by as many as 41 points in the second half.
Moore finished the 2025 season (15 games) with 3,565 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 163.7 passer rating, while completing 71.8% of his passes. The redshirt sophomore also rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
This was Moore’s first season as a full-time collegiate career, as he started five games in his 2023 freshman campaign at UCLA but was also limited by a head injury before transferring to Oregon, with whom he sat behind future 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist Dillon Gabriel last season.
Moore is a prime candidate to hear his name in the opening stage of the 2026 NFL Draft, as the teams who own the top two selections in the draft (Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets) don’t have their long-term answer at quarterback, and the Arizona Cardinals (pick No. 3) may release quarterback Kyler Murray this coming offseason.
Where is Moore’s head at regarding the draft?
“I’m going to soak this moment up, most importantly, just giving hugs and ‘thank yous’ to my teammates. But, at the end of the day, I don’t know my decision yet,” Moore said after the game about potentially declaring for the draft. “I’m going to talk to [Oregon] Coach [Dan] Lanning [and] talk to my family and everybody. But, at the end of the day, I don’t want to think about that right now. I just want to think about my teammates and give love to them.”
Oregon finished the season at 13-2, previously beating James Madison in the first round of the College Football Playoff, 51-34, and shutting out Big 12-champion Texas Tech in the quarterfinal round, 23-0. Both of the Ducks’ losses were to the Hoosiers.
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