Oregon Ducks' Quarterback Competition Heating Up?

The Oregon Ducks are set to start their third different quarterback in three years this season. Despite popular belief that former five-star recruit Dante Moore will earn the starting nod, college football insider Pete Thamel said Moore’s role isn’t a done deal.

The redshirt sophomore has been part of a quarterback battle with redshirt sophomore Austin Novosad and redshirt freshman Luke Moga. Ducks coach Dan Lanning and Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein still haven’t named a starting quarterback several weeks into fall camp.

Oregon Ducks Quarterback Dante Moore Austin Novosad Dan Lanning Dillon Gabriel Redshirt Transfer Portal Recruiting Will Stein — Aug 31, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore (5) during pregame warmups before the game against the Idaho Vandals at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Thamel went on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday to break down the competition.

“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 The Pat McAfee Show. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if we do see some real snaps from 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.”

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A Look At The Competition

Moore started his collegiate career with the UCLA Bruins, where he earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors and started nine games. He threw multiple touchdowns in each of his first three games with the Bruins.

The quarterback was tested early in his career, however, and ended up transferring to Oregon after one season with UCLA. Moore sat behind former Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel in 2024. He appeared in just five games and utilized a redshirt.

Meanwhile, Novosad joined the Ducks in 2023 as a four-star from Dripping Springs, Texas. He learned from two Heisman Trophy finalists in his first two seasons as a backup: Gabriel and Bo Nix.

The pair comes from different backgrounds and brings different characteristics to Oregon’s offense. Many believe that Moore has a massive upside that could be reached if he plays up to what made him a top quarterback recruit coming out of high school.

Still, Novosad has seemingly kicked things into another gear this fall camp, and he’s learned from two of the most experienced quarterbacks in the game.

Oregon Ducks Speak Up About Quarterback Performances

The quarterback position has been a hot topic during Oregon's fall camp media availabilities. After the Ducks’ first fall scrimmage, Lanning talked about Moore’s improvement this fall. Offensive linemen Iapani Laloulu also chimed in on the quarterback room, as well as Stein.

Lanning’s Comments On Moore:

“Just confidence in the offense. Dante said that to the team today, too, about we're the guys on the field that have to execute the plays,” Lanning said on Aug. 12. “He made a check here at the end of practice today to end up throwing a touchdown. That was an elite check. He had a little back and forth playing chess with the defense today on some different checks. So those are things that always excite me.”

“He made a great decision to throw the ball away today in the red area and not take a sack and not put the ball in jeopardy. When it comes to ball-in-jeopardy plays, when it comes to making checks like those are things that I'm seeing from all of our quarterbacks, and certainly Dante,” Lanning continued.

Laloulu On Quarterback Leadership:

“Guys doing a great job of being able to speak up more and being comfortable with sometimes checking us out of certain situations as well. For Austin Novosad, he's doing a great job. Our quarterbacks are doing a great job. And I feel like Coach Stein's doing a great job of developing the quarterbacks, whoever it is at the end of the day,” Laloulu said.

Stein On Moore’s Progress:

“I just think he's really tried to take a leadership role, and it's hard when you haven't played here. We know he's played at UCLA, but now he's been here for a full season and a full spring, so he's really tried to take that next step, and knowing his guys like you mentioned, going with receivers, being a leader, that's really what I've seen the most," said Stein. "But the biggest growth for him is just take what the defense gives you, like you take what the defense gives you, they'll give you the game every single time.”

“We've won a lot of games here with that mindset at quarterback, that doesn't mean that we don't throw to win. We don't take chances down the field, but being extremely efficient offense is huge, because we stay on the field. We keep our defense fresh. We convert first to first downs, score touchdowns in the red area, and then we got our chances to take a shot and create explosive that's what we do. So, I think Dante is really buying into that mindset, understanding that playing quarterback at this level takes winning football every single down. It's not every other, it's not every third play. It's got to be every single down for us to be the office that we want to be,” Stein said about Moore.