Dante Moore (born May 24, 2005) is an American college football

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who plays for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

. He previously played for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

Early life and high school

Moore was born in

East Cleveland, Ohio East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is the first suburb encountered when travelling east from Cleveland. The population was 13,792 at the 2020 census. East Cleveland is bounded by the city of Cleveland to its nor ...

and grew up in nearby

Elyria Elyria may refer to: *Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black ...

. He later moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan and attended Martin Luther King High School (MLK). He weighed as a freshman and gained 50 pounds over the next two seasons. Moore passed for 3,044 yards with 40

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s against three

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s during his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

season while MLK won the Division III state championship. Moore led MLK to a second straight state title as a senior while passing for 2,392 yards and 32 touchdowns with three interceptions. He was selected to play in the 2023

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

. Moore finished his high school career with 9,880 passing yards and 135 touchdown passes. Moore was rated the best recruit in his class by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''. He initially committed to play college football at

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

entering his senior year. Moore had the option to meet with Oregon's

name, image and likeness In college athletics in the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") has historically resisted efforts to compensate college athletes. However, after years of effort by those in favor of student athlete compensation, c ...

(NIL) collectives during his official visit, but opted against doing so. Moore flipped his commitment to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. He is the highest-rated quarterback to ever commit to play for the Bruins. Moore signed his National Letter of Intent to UCLA on December 21, 2022.

College career

UCLA

Moore joined the

as an early enrollee in January 2023. He was vying to become the Bruins' first

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

to start the season opener at quarterback since

Josh Rosen Joshua Ballinger Lippincott Rosen (born February 10, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, receiving Freshman All-American and ...

in 2015. However, UCLA coach

Chip Kelly Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the UCLA Bruins. He came to prominence as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012, whom he led to four consecutive BCS bowl ga ...

named junior

Ethan Garbers Ethan Garbers (born July 28, 2002) is an American college football quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. He previously played for the Washington Huskies. Early years Garbers hometown is Newport Beach, California, and he attended Corona del Mar Hig ...

the starter, while also saying that Moore and transfer quarterback

Collin Schlee Collin Schlee (born May 30, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. He previously played for the Kent State Golden Flashes. Early life and high school Schlee grew up in Ijamsville, Maryland and attended Oakdale High Schoo ...

would also play in the opener. The Bruins won their season opener 27–13 over Coastal Carolina. Moore completed seven of 12 passes for two touchdowns and an interception. Playing in five drives, he led the Bruins to 212 yards on 31 plays for 20 points. Moore started the following week in a 35–10 win against

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He was 17-of-27 passing for 290 yards in only three quarters, and his three touchdown passes tied the school record for a true freshman held by Rosen and Cade McNown. He barely played the next week, a blowout win over North Carolina Central. In the following game against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, Moore's first pass was intercepted for a touchdown. He was pressured by the Utes, sacked seven times and losing a fumble in a 14–7 loss. The game started a streak of three straight games in which he threw a pick-six, resulting in Kelly returning to Garbers as the starter. Moore played in most of the regular-season finale against

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

after Garbers left with an arm injury in UCLA's opening drive. In his first play from Cal's 20-yard line, Moore thew into heavy coverage for an interception in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

. The Bruins lost 33–7, with Moore completing 23 of 38 passes for 266 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He lost a fumble and was sacked six times. Moore entered the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

on November 30, 2023.

Oregon

On December 18, 2023, Moore announced that he would be transferring to

College statistics

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Dante Living people 2005 births Players of American football from Detroit Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio People from East Cleveland, Ohio American football quarterbacks Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School alumni UCLA Bruins football players Oregon Ducks football players