Tune into the Peach Bowl if you are a fan of good, old fashioned quarterback competition.
Long since settled as starting quarterbacks, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza of No. 1 Indiana are showcase attractions in the spotlight College Football Playoff semifinal in Atlanta on Friday night.
Squaring off for the second time this season — Round 1 went to Mendoza and the Hoosiers in a turning-point win — it won’t be the final time for a tale of the tape between the 20-year-old Moore and 22-year-old Mendoza.
Win or lose Friday, fans and armchair roster-building pundits will be measuring these quarterbacks by trait and every measurable comparison and contrasting skill all the way up until the Las Vegas Raiders call out the name of the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“Beating a great team twice is extremely difficult. They’re star studded on both offense and defense,” Mendoza said on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “Draft picks all across the board. Having to play them twice is going to be tough. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Score the first few rounds to Mendoza, a transfer to Indiana from Cal who faced Moore during his UCLA cameo. The Hoosiers topped Oregon, 30-20, when they met at Autzen Stadium in Eugene on Oct. 11.
“I gotta give Fernando his credit. He’s had a hell of a year. He’s had some great years,” Moore said. “This is our third time playing against each other. He’s somebody that works his tail off. Very smart quarterback, talented quarterback.”
Field Level Media rates Moore as the No. 2 quarterback in the draft behind Mendoza, with Alabama’s Ty Simpson — who lost to Mendoza at the Rose Bowl last week and entered the draft on Wednesday — on their heels.
Moore downplayed the looming stay-or-go call he’ll face when Oregon’s season ends. He said the difference this week from when he left UCLA for Oregon was his destination was a choice he had made long before entering the transfer portal.
“At the end of the day, when I started football at four years old, everybody’s goal is get into the National Football League,” Moore said. Yeah, there’s going to be all these things going on. I’m human. I see it on social media. But I told myself that I shouldn’t be engaged with it, because if I do, I’m thinking about myself and I’m not thinking about the 10 other guys on the field with me. So I gotta make sure I give them my 100 percent love and attention, because without them I wouldn’t be in the situation I am now. So I’m thankful for my teammates, and it’s going to be a great game. And when I see Fernando again and we talk after the game, whenever we do, I’m just glad I got to play against him.”
Former NFL coach Bruce Arians, who coached Peyton Manning and Tom Brady during his extensive offensive coaching career, recently likened Mendoza to Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Brady, a driving force of the Raiders’ offseason as a minority owner, praised Mendoza’s ability to “think the game” and anticipate adjustments from defenses.
Mendoza leads the FBS with 36 touchdown passes and threw six interceptions. He also had six rushing touchdowns.
There will be troops in the Moore camp if he decides not to return to Oregon because of his easy arm strength and feel for the pocket.
Moore threw two interceptions and was sacked six times in the first matchup with Indiana this season.
–Field Level Media
