Dante Moore stood near midfield inside Beaver Stadium, embracing Will Stein for nearly 20 seconds.
Moore, Oregon football’s redshirt sophomore quarterback, told his offensive coordinator he loved him just moments after the Ducks notched a top 10 victory Sept. 27 over then-No. 2 Penn State.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning and Moore also hugged each other postgame. Moore cried.
The quarterback acknowledged in a press conference Tuesday that fans felt he celebrated as if the Ducks won the Super Bowl. Instead, he said he gets emotional because he’s “worked so damn hard for it.”
“People don't understand how much prep and work was put into that week," Moore said. "I mean if I told my younger self that you're about to play in front of 112,000 in a white-out, top five hardest atmospheres in the world to play in, and we win in double-overtime, it's just a crazy situation.”
Now, Moore and the Ducks return home to Autzen Stadium with another top 10 opponent — No. 7 Indiana — awaiting them at 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday in Eugene, Oregon. Both teams enter the matchup coming off road wins and their first bye week of the season.
The Hoosiers have experience playing against ranked opponents away from Bloomington against, albeit losing both those contests last season. The Ducks are 2-1 against ranked opponents on the road under fourth-year head coach Dan Lanning. They’re 11-6 in total against top 25 teams.
Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel — both starting quarterbacks in the NFL — led Oregon through Lanning’s first three seasons in Eugene. Moore spent his freshman season in 2023 at UCLA before transferring to Oregon.
Gabriel committed to the Ducks just over a week before Moore did. The latter knew he would sit behind the former and Moore described it as a “great decision” to sit back and learn.
Now, Moore has the reigns of the Ducks’ offense, and Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has no doubts he’s “one of the great quarterbacks in the country.”
“Well, he's playing really well,” Cignetti said during his press conference Monday. “He's another guy, got big-time arm talent, quick release, accurate.”
Cignetti described Moore as an athletic signal caller who can extend plays with his running ability. Moore throws the ball to his pass catchers in rhythm, Cignetti said.
As Oregon began its season with a pair of blowout wins over Montana State University and Oklahoma State University, Moore completed 77.3% of his passes and threw for 479 total yards and six touchdowns.
In the Ducks conference opener at Northwestern on Sept. 13, Moore tossed his first interception of the season. He still racked up 178 yards passing and a touchdown in the 20-point victory.
But over Oregon’s last two contests, Moore has taken his play to another level. Against Oregon State and then-No. 2 Penn State, Moore totaled 553 yards passing and seven touchdowns in the two contests.
Not only has Moore elevated his play to a new degree, but he’s playing at a Heisman Trophy-winning level. Moore is the current favorite to win the award at +500, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Indiana senior linebacker Aiden Fisher echoed Cignetti’s assessment of Moore: he’s a “really good” quarterback.
“Ball just flies out of his hands, really smart, is able to kind of decipher coverages really well,” Fisher said during media availability Tuesday. “And then the receivers on the outside are fast, really good playmakers.”
Freshman receiver Dakorien Moore leads the Ducks in receiving. He’s caught 19 passes for 296 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Senior receiver Malik Benson, who spent 2024 at Florida State University, has 16 receptions for 212 yards receiving.
The Ducks’ rushing attack — primarily composed of freshman Dierre Hill Jr., junior Jayden Limar and redshirt senior Noah Whittington — averages 239.4 yards per contest through five games. Fisher said Oregon’s backs can “make that offense go.”
“Really, it's all together a really good offense schematically,” Fisher said. “They throw a lot at you that you have to be prepared for. And a lot of little intricacies in their offense that you have to be keen on, or they'll exploit your defense really quick.”
For the Hoosiers to slow down Moore and the Ducks’ playmakers, they can’t play on Oregon’s terms. Fisher said much of the defense’s responsibility is playing together and communicating pre-snap.
“I just think it's a tough offense to prepare for,” Fisher said, “and one that we have our hands full with.”
Moore has long been a highly regarded quarterback. He was ranked as the fourth-best recruit and a five-star out of Detroit in the 2023 class. He even received his first verbal collegiate offer in seventh grade.
But it didn’t come easy; he struggled at UCLA in 2023. He tossed 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions in nine games as the Bruins went 8-5. Head coach Chip Kelly left at season’s end.
Since then, Moore went to Oregon, sat back and learned. Now, he’s shined.
He’s shown he’s a Heisman-level quarterback. One who’s near the top of the 2026 NFL Draft boards. One who has an opportunity to notch another top 10 victory over Indiana on Saturday.
“There's no secret sauce,” Lanning said Wednesday. “If you're willing to put in the effort and the time and you have the talent, it'll pay off. He's been a great example of that.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season
