In his first start in nearly two years, Dante Moore had a near-perfect performance as No. 7 Oregon was all over Montana State Bobcats 59-13 in the opener for both teams Saturday afternoon in Eugene, Ore.
In just under three quarters of work, Moore went 18-for-23 with 213 yards and three touchdowns. The redshirt sophomore’s 78 percent completion rate was his career high in a start and helped the Ducks outgain the Bobcats 506-244.
Moore ended his day by hitting 6-of-6 passes on his lone drive in the third quarter. He showed some flair on third-and-14 by escaping pressure and finding his running back, Jay Harris, for a 50-yard gain. He then went no-huddle on the next play and hit Gary Bryant Jr. for the 14-yard score to push the lead to 45-6.
After Moore got taken out for the game, Oregon scored two more rushing touchdowns to extend the lead. Jordon Davison punched both in to give him three rushing touchdowns on just six carries for the day.
Bobcats starting quarterback Justin Lamson hit 23 of 31 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Taco Dowler caught 12 passes for 107 yards.
He was able to get the Bobcats in position for a pair of 42-yard field goals from Myles Sansted in the second and third quarters. Adam Jones had the lone touchdown for Montana State, a 2-yard score with 2:22 to play.
The Ducks kicked off the scoring with three scoring drives in the first quarter. Their first touchdown of the year came on a 16-yard run from Jayden Limar, who bounced it to the outside and went almost untouched into the end zone.
Oregon then used blocked punts on two straight possessions to set up a Moore 20-yard dart to Kenyon Sadiq and a 23-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington.
The Ducks went on two long drives in the second quarter that were capped by a 2-yard Davison run and a 1-yard jaunt by Noah Whittington to make it 31-0 with 4:34 left in the half.
After the Bobcats’ first field goal of the game, Moore drove Oregon down the field with just a little over a minute on the clock. Moore delivered an 11-yard strike to Malik Benson with just three seconds left that gave Oregon a 35-point halftime lead.
Oregon finished with 253 yards on the ground and 253 through the air. The Ducks committed no turnovers and allowed no sacks.
–Field Level Media
