Dante Moore’s push for the Heisman Trophy is getting plenty of attention, but the emotional center of it came from home.
As No. 2 Oregon opened its 2026 season with a 34-27 win over Boise State on Saturday, the quarterback’s campaign was already rolling in full view. Moore’s profile has been building through a personal website, international billboards and a broader effort to put his name in front of voters and fans who may still be getting to know his game.
That effort got a boost Sept. 3 when Oregon football’s official Instagram account posted a new hype video for Moore’s third season. The 1:28 clip mixed highlights from Autzen Stadium with a voiceover from his father, Otha Moore.
“There’s still more left on the table,” Otha Moore said in an inspiring 1:28-long clip featuring highlights of his son and Autzen Stadium. “You have to set your own path and journey. You have to outwork the next man.”
The post has already passed 10,000 likes, along with 115 comments and 469 reshares.
For Dante Moore, the message hit close to home. His father worked as a Ford plant engineer, bartended Detroit Lions and Tigers games, and also spent time mowing lawns and coaching youth sports. That kind of grind, Moore said, is part of what shaped him.
After leading Oregon past Boise State with three touchdowns and 378 passing yards, Moore explained what hearing his father’s voice meant to him.
“Yeah, it’s funny because last night I watched my highlights from when I was back in C-team, 10 years old, and I watched my highlights when I was on A-team, around 12, 13 years old.
“And I just reminded myself I play this game and have fun and smile on my face.
“And with that voice coming from my dad, you know, I got emotional. I cried. But it just shows how my family is, that whatever you do in life, you’ve got to have some joy and a smile, good and bad.
“And I just reminded myself last night when I take this field that there’s going to be some great plays, there’s going to be some bad plays. But I’m just a young kid from Detroit, and I just have a smile on my face when I go out there and play football.”
Moore enters his fourth season with 5,224 career passing yards and 41 touchdowns, plus the kind of expectations that come with being projected as a top-five quarterback. He was home in New York when Fernando Mendoza won the 2025 Heisman Trophy, then chose to return to Eugene rather than move on to the pro ranks, giving himself one more year to build on a junior season that produced 3,565 passing yards and 30 touchdowns.
Oregon’s campaign around him has been built to match the moment. The athletic department launched a dedicated Heisman website under the hashtag “#HeIsMoore,” with news, updates, social media and a multi-chapter series called “More of Moore,” scheduled to run from September through December.
The site also includes Moore’s Apple Music playlist, “Mooretown Records.”
“This is about more than a play,” claims the website. “This is about more than a drive.
This is about more than a game. This is about more than a season.”
Heisman campaigning is hardly new in college football. Colorado mailed packets to voters in 2024 for quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter, while this season Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith has his own website and Trinidad Chambliss shared Times Square billboard space with Ole Miss teammate Kewan Lacy.
Oregon has gone global with its own version. In June, the school put up billboards in Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing with the line “Yes, there’s Moore” to promote the team’s trip to the Tokyo Oregon Football Showcase. Soon after, a 1,600-pound inflatable Oregon Duck mascot appeared with an oversized Godzilla head at the Shinjuku Toho building, with the message that it’s “gonna be a monster season.”
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