Dante Moore didn’t need a full afternoon to make a national statement. He only needed two quarters.
The Oregon quarterback carved up Portland State for 280 passing yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-23 throwing before Ducks coach Dan Lanning turned things over to backup quarterback Dylan Raiola at halftime of Oregon’s 84-0 win over the Vikings. That half was enough to push Moore into PFF’s top-graded Power Four quarterbacks for Week 3.
His 89.3 grade put him at No. 10 on PFF’s weekly list, alongside Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, Notre Dame’s CJ Carr and Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker. Moore was one of only two Big Ten quarterbacks to crack the top 10, joining Iowa’s Hank Brown.
Brown came in at No. 6 with a 91.0 grade after going 12-of-12 for 153 yards and two touchdowns in Iowa’s 55-0 win over Northern Iowa. PFF still tabbed Moore as the Big Ten quarterback on its Team of the Week.
The grading system goes beyond touchdowns and passing yards. It charts every snap, every player, and builds its scores on a 0-to-100 scale, with quarterback-specific factors like yards after catch separated out.
At the top of the Week 3 chart was West Virginia quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., who earned PFF’s national Quarterback of the Week honor. Hawkins put together a dual-threat outing against No. 25 Virginia, throwing with a 26.3 percent big-time throw rate and an average depth of target of 14.3 yards while also piling up 123 rushing yards and three scores in the Mountaineers’ 38-27 win in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton followed at No. 2 after combining 147 passing yards and a touchdown with 97 rushing yards in the Bulldogs’ 45-17 road win over Arkansas.
Mestemaker, meanwhile, showed up again on Oregon’s radar. Two weeks after shredding the Ducks for 317 passing yards, two touchdowns, 109 rushing yards and a score, the Oklahoma State quarterback landed at No. 3 on the Week 3 list after throwing for 324 yards and five touchdowns in a 59-0 win over Murray State.
The weekly list is one thing. The season leaderboard is another.
Only four quarterbacks appear on both after Week 3, with Hawkins at No. 1 overall at 93.5 and Stockton at No. 3 at 92.8. Notre Dame’s CJ Carr sits No. 4 for the season with a 92.8 grade, while Utah quarterback Devon Dampier is No. 10 at 90.2.
Moore, despite nine touchdown passes and no interceptions, is still No. 70 nationally with a 78.7 overall PFF grade. But the Portland State performance showed the ceiling is there.
Now comes the harder test. Oregon heads to Los Angeles on Saturday to face No.
12 USC, and that matchup gives Moore another chance to climb. The Trojans are allowing 203.8 passing yards per game and opponents are completing 59.4 percent of their throws against them.
Moore has completed 68.5 percent of his passes and owns a 10.1 touchdown percentage.
The run game has not fully hit stride yet for Oregon, either. The Ducks are averaging 160.7 rushing yards per game, and the offensive line has given up seven sacks while working through its footing.
A full-blown dual-threat surge is probably not coming from Moore at this stage. His best rushing game so far is 53 yards against Oregon State in 2025.
So if Moore is going to keep pushing toward the elite tier on PFF’s season board, it likely has to come the same way it did against Portland State: sharp, efficient passing, plus the kind of downfield punch that has already produced six of his nine touchdown throws from 36 yards or longer.
In Other News...
Marcus Mariota Just Put Oregons NFL Pipeline Back In Focus
Marcus Mariotas Week 2 start for the Washington Commanders put a familiar Oregon name back in the spotlight, and it also served as a reminder of how many Ducks are still scattered across the NFL in meaningful roles. Bo Nix continued his early run with the Denver Broncos, Jevon Holland was active on defense for the New York Giants, and the broader update around former Ducks included everything from gameday participation to injuries and practice squad status across the league.
For Oregon fans, the appeal is bigger than any single box score. It is the old pipeline story again, with the programs best pro products still showing up in starting lineups, on defensive snaps, and in the daily churn of NFL rosters. Mariotas place in that mix is especially notable, and the bigger question now is how long this latest chapter keeps the Ducks conversation centered on Sundays. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Now Has One More USC Threat To Worry About
USC is getting closer to adding another piece back into its defensive front, and that matters with Oregon coming to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart is progressing in his recovery from a foot injury after missing the season so far, which gives USC another possible reinforcement as the Ducks prepare for a road test in a matchup that could be shaped by line play.
For Oregon, the timing is worth watching because Stewart has the kind of presence that can change how an opposing offense has to operate inside. His return is not here yet, but the fact that it is moving in that direction gives USC another threat to consider as both teams head into a game with plenty riding on the early-season Big Ten race. [Read more 🡒]
Dante Moore Faces A Bigger Oregon Test Than Fans Wanted
Dante Moore has given Oregon plenty to like through three games, with nine touchdown passes and no interceptions giving the Ducks a steady presence at quarterback. Even after the loss to Oklahoma State, the talk around the offense has centered less on Moores play than on the support around him, with analysts on the Ducks Confidential podcast pointing to a shaky offensive line and a running game that has not done enough to lighten the load.
Now comes a different kind of pressure point with USC on deck, and it is one of those games where Oregon will need more than efficiency from its quarterback. Moore will have to elevate his play even as the line issues remain unresolved, because the Ducks are about to find out how much margin for error they really have when the opponent can force them to operate under stress. [Read more 🡒]