Dante Moore still isn’t ready to make his return to the field.
Oregon ruled out its quarterback on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Nebraska due to a concussion. Moore hasn’t played since he went down with a scary head injury in the team’s Week 4 win over USC.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning said that Moore practiced on Wednesday and was throwing the ball, which was “exciting to see,” via The Oregonian, but he’s clearly still not ready to go. It’s unclear how much longer he will be sidelined.
Moore suffered a concussion in the first half of the Ducks’ 41-27 win over Oregon last month after he took a violent hit to the head. Moore was trying to slide in the second quarter when USC linebacker Desman Stephens II came in and drilled him with a helmet-to-helmet hit. Stephens was ejected for targeting on the play, and was suspended for a single game as a result of the hit and his actions that followed.
Backup Dylan Raiola came in and replaced Moore, and led the team to the blowout win in Los Angeles.
He got his first start in an Oregon uniform last week in their matchup with UCLA, but he struggled and was eventually benched in favor of Brock Thomas. Raiola went just 6-of-19 for 43 yards with two interceptions and a fumble in the contest before Thomas came in to replace him.
While Thomas led the Ducks back from an 11-point hole in the fourth quarter and found Evan Stewart for a 44-yard touchdown in the final minute, their 2-point conversion attempt failed. That resulted in the 17-15 loss, and resulted in the Ducks falling out of the national rankings this week. Oregon had seven total turnovers in the loss.
With Moore still sidelined, it’s unclear who will start at quarterback for the Ducks on Saturday at Autzen Stadium. Lanning described it as an open competition between Raiola and Thomas for the role. Raoila spent two seasons as Nebraska’s starting quarterback before transferring into Oregon.
"Of course, it's going to be an emotional game for Dylan, being the place he came from,” Lanning said on Monday, via On3’s Pete Nakos. “He's going to do everything he can to make sure our team is in the best situation to have success this week and be prepared. ... I know he'll do that because he's a pro."
Nebraska will enter Saturday night’s contest in Eugene at 5-1, fresh off a narrow 20-17 loss to No. 5 Indiana last week. The Ducks, meanwhile, sit at 3-2 on the year after an early loss at Oklahoma State. A win over the Cornhuskers would keep their playoff hopes alive, though just barely, while giving Moore extra time to recover.
But if Raiola and Thomas can’t pull that off, especially knowing that No. 25 Northwestern, No. 4 Ohio State and Michigan all still loom on their schedule, a second straight playoff appearance may be out of the question.