Dante Moore, Oregon try to make sense of miserable ending to season: 'We beat ourselves'
The frustration set in early, with a pick-6 on the first play from scrimmage. It rarely got better for the Ducks and their star quarterback.
ATLANTA — After it was over, the tears in Dante Moore’s eyes started to well up.
The Oregon quarterback lingered on the sideline at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and began to hug coaches and teammates, one by one. When he connected with offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu, the Ducks center gave his quarterback a quick kiss on the cheek and started to pray with him. “I love you, boy,” Laloulu told him as Moore buried his head into Laloulu’s chest, his own upper body rising and falling with each emotional breath.
Then the Ducks’ young star walked off the field for the final time this season. He wiped his nose, flashed an “O” with his hands to the Oregon faithful and headed down the winding tunnel and toward the locker room to be with his teammates.
Moore, the redshirt sophomore who came to the West Coast from Detroit, has had plenty of dazzling moments in his No. 5 Oregon uniform. But Friday night against Indiana was a real-life nightmare in a 56-22 Oregon loss that somehow didn’t even feel that close. Moore finished the night 24-of-39 passing for 285 yards, two touchdowns and three turnovers in what will go down as one of the most frustrating nights of his career.
No one felt that more deeply than Moore.
“First things first, the quarterback has to protect the football,” he said. “(Indiana) has a great defense, great disguise and different looks, but you can’t win football games if you’re causing turnovers. (That’s) something of course I need to work at.”
The frustration kicked in early for Moore, who, in the game’s first play from scrimmage, threw a pick six straight into the hands of Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. Just 11 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers were up 7-0, with the overwhelmingly pro-Indiana crowd nearly bursting at the seams right from the jump.
INDIANA PICK-SIX ON DANTE MOORE ON THE FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME 🤯 pic.twitter.com/BGR1OeahyH
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2026
Moore composed himself in the Ducks’ subsequent drive and led Oregon to a touchdown as the Ducks effectively attacked Indiana both through the air and on the ground to tie the score at 7. But midway through the second quarter, he fumbled when his arm hit freshman running back Dierre Hill Jr. on a run-pass option play. Indiana recovered at the Oregon 3-yard line and was in the end zone within 70 seconds. Later in the second quarter, Moore fumbled again — this time after he was sacked for a loss of 8 yards to put the Hoosiers at the Oregon 21. Spoiler alert: IU scored again.