The I-5 Thoughts: On Dante Moore to Eugene and re-evaluating Oregon's Mount Rushmores
On Oregon's stacked QB room, Bucky Irving's place among Oregon's best and an honest review of Hop Valley's new Winter Classic beer.
Apologies for the infrequent posts the last two weeks. I am, however, happy to announce that The I-5 Corridor is now a two-time champion against COVID-19. Won this one clean in the fourth round.
OK, now onto a few thoughts before Wednesday’s signing day.
1. Oregon’s star-heavy QB room
Here’s a fun headline from The I-5 Corridor from July 11, 2022:
Dante Moore is Oregon’s and the sky can fall elsewhere
Takes ya back, doesn’t it? Back to a time when Bo Nix was still a massive question for Oregon — as was the future of the Pac-12 Conference following the sudden announcement of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. But then came Moore, then a 5-star quarterback from Detroit, who committed to Oregon as UO’s top-ranked QB commit ever.
I wrote at the time: “There’s something about the timing of this Moore commit that just hits differently than some of those in the past. At a time when the foundation shakes across campuses everywhere on the West Coast, a quarterback who could go anywhere chose to find safe harbor inside the Hatfield Dowlin-Complex.”
Of course, that didn’t hold up. Nix turned his career around at Oregon, Moore flipped to UCLA and the Ducks have now joined the Trojans, Bruins and Huskies in heading to the Big Ten.
With Nix leaving after his Heisman-finalist second season with the Ducks, Oregon appeared to go the quick fix route again by bringing in Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel and his 49 career starts last week. But Monday night the Ducks pulled off one of the most unlikely scenarios in college football: They convinced a kid that likely had guaranteed playing time elsewhere to wait a year.
It’s even more surprising considering Moore played in nine games as a true freshman in 2023, passing for 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Moore will conceivably come in, develop under the tutelage of college football’s most experienced starter and put himself in a great spot to take over Oregon’s starting job in 2025.
You know, just like Ty Thompson thought would happen with Nix.
I know. I know. Different players. Different situation. None of this is guaranteed. However, it’s been a long time since Oregon’s quarterback situation has looked this clear beyond the horizon of the season directly ahead.
2. Re-evaluating Oregon’s Mount Rushmores
The tough thing about having one of those really good seasons is that the success is often followed by some immediate departures. It barely felt like the final whistle had sounded at the 2014 national championship game before Marcus Mariota was whisked off into the NFL Draft circuit.
Of course, throughout Oregon’s history the Ducks have had relative success in replacing star players. Mariota was followed by Vernon Adams Jr.. LaMichael James was followed by Kenjon Barner. This is what good recruiting and good planning does for a team.
But it’s not often in Oregon history that the Ducks have had to replace an all-time quarterback, all-time running back and all-time receiver in the same class.
A quick review of each’s candidacy for their positional Mount Rushmores:
Bo Nix
Nix doesn’t have the entire Oregon career of Mariota and he wasn’t the hometown hero like Justin Herbert. But statistically, his two seasons in Eugene were as good as it gets. Nix is third in Oregon all-time passing yards (7,738), third in touchdown passes (69) and first in career completion percentage (74.6 percent). He became the fourth Heisman Trophy finalist in program history in 2023 and his emergence as the steady hand at the helm of the offense immediately led an Oregon program left in the dark by yet another departed head coach.
There’s a reason they put this guy on billboards back in August.
And while his two losses to Washington this year may keep him off of Oregon’s all-time Mount Rushmore (Mariota, LaMichael James, Haloti Ngata, Joey Harrington1), he certainly has a well-warranted spot amongst the QB greats.
Bucky Irving
Now Bucky is an interesting case for inclusion amongst Oregon’s all-time running backs. He’s 10th in all-time yards (2,121), 12th in all-time touchdowns (15) and never had one season that’s going to stand out on paper when historians look back.
For instance, here are two different Oregon running backs’ best seasons:
Player A: 172 carries, 1,063 yards, 10 rushing touchdowns, 1,458 total yards, 12 total TDs
Player B: 211 carries, 1,271 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns, 1,673 total yards, 18 total TDs