Being a starting quarterback as a freshman isn’t only about playing football better than everyone else, it’s accelerated adulthood. It’s an 18-year-old managing disappointment, navigating program politics, forging relationships and figuring out how to live in college with an entire fanbase’s hope for the future on their back. 

What would Oregon quarterback Dante Moore say to 18-year-old him two years ago at UCLA?

“Smile (and don’t care about other people’s opinions; Be you,” Moore said.

That’s a lot easier for Moore to do now. He sat behind Dillon Gabriel for a year, learning offensive coordinator Will Stein’s scheme, and now, as the Ducks’ starter, is seeing his career take flight. 

Moore’s 479 yards and six touchdowns in just over six quarters of action has come as little surprise to those in the Oregon stratosphere. 

“It’s been two years, man,” Moore said after the Week 1 win over Montana State University. “It’s a blessing to be able to play here at the University of Oregon in front of a great crowd and great fans. I think the best thing was the way we moved the ball as a whole unit.”

Still, head coach Dan Lanning came away more impressed with one of the throws that Moore didn’t make. With the Ducks facing third and goal from the 10-yard line in their Week 1 win, Moore opted to run the ball for five yards and set up a field-goal, instead of forcing a pass. 

“To me, that’s a great decision that will get no hoopla,” Lanning said. “He didn’t make the extraordinary pass. What did he do? He protected the ball and we walked away with points.”

Moore certainly saw (and made) plenty of those plays last year as backup to Heisman Trophy finalist Dillon Gabriel. One of Gabriel’s few flaws — especially early on — was forcing the ball into windows that weren’t there. Four of his six interceptions were in the red zone. 

“It reflects back on how my freshman year was,” Moore said. “I was forcing throws, and I’m not making the right decisions, and things can turn out bad that way. Then also, he showed me the clips of Dillon when he was here, like the Michigan State game, the red area (and) forcing throws. As a quarterback, you always learn from the situations.”

The kind of plays Moore made as a freshman and was criticized for is not the type of plays he’s making now.

“You always learn from situations; at practice I’ve done it a couple of times, (and) it hasn’t turned out the way I want it to turn out, so (Lanning)’s cussed me out 1,000 times,” Moore said. “I kind of hear him in the back of my head every time I’m scrambling like, ‘Don’t throw it.’ I made a lot of great decisions taking what the defense gives me.”

Of course, it helps that at Oregon there are playmakers everywhere and the quarterback generally just has to steer the ship. But that’s exactly where Lanning and Stein think Moore’s rocket arm and five-star characteristics can take over, helping elevate an already stacked Ducks’ squad. 

“Not every play needs to go deep,” wide receiver Malik Benson said. “If he does do that as receivers we got to make him look right and he makes us look good too. Just because we don’t get 50 (yards) on this play, he can check it down and we get 50 on the check down.”

Moore’s physical tools have always jumped out at coaches, but now as a Duck, he looks like more of a finished product than ever.