Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning let it be known that he’s going ahead with quarterbacks Dante Moore and Austin Novisad as his team vies to stay in title contention.
Dan Lanning Trusts Dante Moore and Austin Novosad to Reload Oregon After Dillon Gabriel
The Ducks came into the 2024 season with the definition of experience at the game’s most important position.
QB Dillon Gabriel had transferred to Oregon after two seasons with the Oklahoma Sooners — which came after three seasons in Orlando with the UCF Knights. In all, he had amassed 49 career starts across five seasons and had thrown 135 passing touchdowns. Not only was he experienced, but he had sustained success and knew how to get the job done.
He led the Ducks to a 12-0 regular season record, followed by a Big 12 title game victory and the top seed in the new edition of the College Football Playoff. Oregon fell in the CFP quarterfinals after coming into the tournament as one of the favorites to claim a national title.
He’s now gone, as he was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
Lanning and the Ducks just completed their spring practices, culminating in their annual spring game this past Saturday.
The highly-pressurized job of replacing Gabriel looks to be a competition between two young candidates: redshirt sophomores Dante Moore and Austin Novisad. Neither has started a game at Oregon.
Moore is the favorite to win the job, as he was a five-star recruit in the 2023 class and started five games for the UCLA Bruins two seasons ago. He looked to be in over his head at times, throwing 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions and only completing 53.5% of his passes.
Novisad is more of an unknown. A four-star prospect in 2023, he’s seen action in just six games across two seasons. He’s completed 11 of 13 passes for 59 yards.
In this day and age of college football, it’s not unheard of for a program — much like Oregon in 2024 with Gabriel — to dip into the transfer portal and grab an experienced QB to lead the way.
Following the Ducks’ spring game, Lanning was asked about that very sentiment: why didn’t he pursue big names at QB in the portal?
“Because I like who we have on our roster,” he said, per On3. “I like the guys that we’ve got. And that’s always been something [where] you want to create competition at every position, and we’ve utilized the portal at times when we felt like that helped us and enhanced us and had the opportunity to have success. Sometimes the portal is not all under your control. But ultimately, I feel good about the guys we have at that position.”
KEEP READING: Dan Lanning Boosts Oregon Football Recruiting With NFL Draft Success — ‘Proof’s in the Pudding’
It’s a strong statement and a major vote of confidence in both Moore and Novisad — as one of which will ultimately be in the driver seat as the Ducks begin their journey of defending the Big 12 title and claiming that evasive national championship.
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