Luke Moga's sprint to Eugene
Why would a freshman commit to Transfer QBU? This Arizona dual-threat has never ducked a good race.
EUGENE — The Oregon Ducks are the transfer quarterback whisperers.
They elevated Vernon Adams Jr., put Bo Nix on billboards and are now bringing in Oklahoma starter Dillon Gabriel in another effort to avoid the rebuild.
Other schools have the same opportunities to compete for the nation’s best free agents, but few have the resources, pedigree and program depth to sell quite like Dan Lanning’s Ducks do right now.
This poses an interesting question as next week’s early signing period approaches:
Why would any freshman quarterback want to commit to Oregon?
Ty Thompson, a former top-75 recruit and Nix’s backup for the last two seasons, is in the transfer portal — joining a list of recent QBs including Jay Butterfield, Robby Ashford and Tyler Shough who signed with Oregon and left after more experienced talent was brought in. Really, it’s been since the 2016 class that a freshman quarterback signed with Oregon and roughly had the career he envisioned.
Luke Moga knows all that. He’s the three-star dual-threat QB from Arizona who is set to sign with the Ducks next Wednesday. He’ll graduate from Sunnyslope High School early, get to Eugene in time for Fiesta Bowl practices and then join a roster that has its 2024 starting quarterback (Gabriel) and may still be in the market for a backup (UCLA’s Dante Moore will reportedly visit soon).
But the way Moga sees it, that’s just the way college football works these days. Eventually he’s going to see all these guys on the practice field.
And none of those guys ran down Blaise Nelson.
Blaise Nelson?