It’s Dan Lanning’s third spring in Eugene and while he has everything nailed down procedurally within the program, there are a lot of new faces to get acquainted with and acclimate to how Oregon does things.
This will be the first time Oregon will be without Bo Nix at quarterback and while redshirt Austin Novosad would have been a good immediate replacement, the transfer portal allows teams to quickly fill in a hole that normally would take time to do so.
Enter Dillon Gabriel.
The four-year starter at Oklahoma will have just one year in Eugene, but he brings in plenty of talent and experience to Oregon. It’s a quality money can’t buy and Oregon should be better for it.
“It’s been good. I love Eugene. I love the area,” Gabriel said when he met with the press. “It’s closer to home (Hawai’i), so I can’t complain. The adjustment period has been real. Being new to any place and transferring, there’s ebbs and flows that you learn and grow through, but where I’m at and this being my last year, it’s been super refreshing to be able to have that.”
If one quarterback coming to Oregon wasn’t enough, the portal spit out another signal caller for the Ducks. Sophomore and former UCLA Bruin Dante Moore is finally with Oregon. He had committed to the Ducks, but when offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham left to be the head coach at Arizona State, Moore instead went to Pasadena.
“I mean it overall I’m just blessed to be here as of right now playing under Coach Lanning, especially being around the guys like here in the locker room,” Moore said. “But there’s the departure from UCLA, like I said, throughout the year, I’m just blessed to even play college football at 18 years old. As a true freshman, I learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes. But at the end of the day all I can do is just learn.”
Just how much he learned will be highlighted in the annual Spring Game at Autzen Stadium April 27. Fans will get their first peek of what the 2024 season could bring.
“Both those guys (Gabriel and Moore) were able to move around with their feet a little bit and utilize their feet, which was a positive to see from them,” Lanning said after a practice where the weather played a part. “I thought overall, we made pretty good decisions. There were some times we put the ball in jeopardy, and we got to protect, but in general, you know, all of our quarterbacks I thought were able to execute.”
It’s not just the quarterback room that has new faces. Wide receiver Evan Williams from Texas A&M and corner Jabbar Muhammad from Washington have also made early strides with their new team.
“Great talent from both of those guys, you know, eager to learn and they play fast,” Lanning said. “They play with a lot of confidence. I think this is early for them. So it’s flying around like crazy right now, but I saw some real positives from them and the way they finish some stuff today. Excited to see what they do on the field for us moving forward.”