Dante Moore isn’t ducking Oregon’s fourth-down mess. He’s explaining it, owning it, and pointing to the fix.
The Ducks have been uncharacteristically empty-handed in those moments through two games, going 0-for-6 on fourth down this season. The latest miss came in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma State, when Oregon faced fourth-and-8 while trailing 36-31 with 6:52 left.
Moore dropped back, the Cowboys got pressure, and his hurried throw toward Dierre Hill Jr. fell incomplete five yards downfield. Oklahoma State then turned the turnover on downs into a field goal and closed out the historic 39-31 win.
That sequence was only the latest example of a surprising trend for a Dan Lanning team. Oregon has built a reputation for being sharp and fearless on fourth down since Lanning took over in 2022, peaking in 2023 with a 76.0 percent success rate. Entering the 2026 season, the Ducks had converted 64.2 percent of their fourth-down tries under Lanning, going 70-of-109 across his first four years.
The breakdown by season shows how strong that track record has been: 20-of-32 in 2022, 19-of-25 in 2023, 13-of-20 in 2024 and 18-of-32 in 2025.
This year, though, the first six attempts have all come up short. Oregon has thrown on every one of those tries, even though four came on fourth-and-1 or fourth-and-2. The Ducks have also managed -7 total yards on fourth down entering Friday night’s game against Portland State at Autzen Stadium.
Here’s how the misses have stacked up: Boise StateFourth-and-2: pass to wide receiver Evan Stewart for -2 yardsFourth-and-1: pass to running back Dierre Hill Jr. for no gainFourth-and-2: pass incomplete to wide receiver Dakorien Moore
Oklahoma StateFourth-and-1: pass incomplete to Dakorien MooreFourth-and-7: Dante Moore sacked for -5 yardsFourth-and-8: pass incomplete to Dierre Hill Jr.
That’s a sharp turn from last season, when Oregon mixed in the run game in those spots. Jordon Davison scored on an eight-yard fourth-and-1 against Penn State, and Noah Whittington ripped off 17 yards on a fourth-and-1 against Washington.
Moore made clear that Lanning’s willingness to gamble is part of what the offense respects.
“Knowing him as a head coach, he loves to go for it on the fourth down,” Moore said. “And as an offense, you have to appreciate that. A head coach that trusts in you and the offense.”
But Moore also acknowledged the line between aggression and a bad call. Lanning said Monday that the Oklahoma State decision was on him.
“Wrong decision on my part,” Lanning admitted during Monday’s press conference.
Now Oregon, which opened the year No. 2 in the AP preseason poll, is working through the issue with the same kind of detail it wants to show on Saturdays. Moore said the Ducks have spent plenty of time on fourth-down reps in practice.
“Yeah, it hasn’t been the best thing for us,” Moore said of the Ducks’ struggles on fourth down, “but we’ve been attacking it every single day, even today, just fourth and threes, fourth and fives, whatever it is, to make sure that at practice we get to do it so many times and rep it. That, come game time, it just goes out there and happens cleanly for us. So, yeah, it’s been a struggle for us, but we’re attacking it for sure.”
He said the work goes beyond just running the plays again and again.
“Just communicating fronts, points, just making sure that we’re all clued in on protection,” Moore said. “Just, you know, helping Poncho (Ducks center Iapani Laloulu), helping the guys up front.
Just what I see from the back end of my view, that for sure can help. And we’ve been attacking that this week.”
Still, Moore knows the final answer in those situations isn’t found in a meeting room.
“You have to make a play,” the junior quarterback said after missing Ducks wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan during a practice drill. “You have to make something happen.”
Oregon gets its next shot to clean it up Friday night against Portland State, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. PDT at Autzen Stadium.
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