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The expectations inside the building have been high since day one, but the Oregon Ducks had a lot of outside skeptics heading into the season. The main reason was the incredibly young roster they have fielded, led by quarterback Dante Moore, who had started just a handful of games before this season.
There were rightfully a lot of questions about whether he could lead a team with such high expectations after a disappointing one-year stint with the UCLA Bruins, and he has answered the bell at every opportunity. One of the few low points of Moore’s season was against the Indiana Hoosiers back in October, where he turned the ball over twice and had his second-lowest passing output of the year in any game that he finished.
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The Ducks lost that game 30-20, but luckily, they have a chance at redemption in the College Football Playoff Semifinals.
Dan Lanning was asked about how Moore will be able to handle Indiana’s defense this time around, to which he responded, “Experience. You gotta remember, when we played earlier in the season, Dante hadn't played a ton of games. And you know, as you play an entire season, you get exposed to a lot of different looks. You learn from those moments. And Dante certainly learned from a lot of those moments, what he's seen.”
Moore has been on a tear since that loss to the Hoosiers, and Lanning is confident that his quarterback’s hot streak will continue and that he has learned from that performance. Indiana just steamrolled the Alabama Crimson Tide by 35 points, so Moore could be called on to put a lot of points on the board if the defense is unable to hold.
It is a tall task against a fierce Hoosiers defense, but the young signal-caller has been calm and collected all year, so he has given no reason to believe he won’t be the exact same way in this high-stakes spectacle.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning speaks on Dante Moore’s growth ahead of Indiana rematch
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