There were clear moments of frustration early in the season for Dakorien Moore. Dropped passes, a lack of explosiveness and minimal opportunities to win matchups bothered the Oregon Ducks’ sophomore wideout.
Moore waved at Illinois fans as he walked off the field following a loss. Against Oklahoma State, Moore stayed on the bench with a towel over his head long after his teammates left the field.
All it took was a change in philosophy and a willingness to let star players act like star players, and suddenly, Moore is emerging as something even greater.
Moore has led the Ducks in catches in each of the last five games, topping 100 receiving twice in that span, the only two times he has done so in his Oregon career. New offensive coordinator Jay
Johnson has made it his mission to get the ball to Oregon’s elite playmakers on the outside, and Moore is a great place to start, making seven catches and scoring a touchdown in each game since Johnson took over play-calling duties.
When the change was made, the sophomore speedster predicted the Ducks would have more explosive plays than the select few they began the season with. The prediction has come true in bunches, and the connection between Moore and Dylan Raiola only continues to strengthen.
"I feel good being able to back up what I said," Moore said after the win over Michigan. "Of course, can't predict the future. All I can say is expect more plays now, even though we have some."
Two 100-yard performances aren’t mind-blowing for this era of college football, but the effort the Ducks are giving to make sure Moore touches the ball often throughout the game, typically downfield and creating big plays, is notable. Oregon has a lot of mouths to feed, but Moore’s has certainly taken the priority.
As a five-star recruit, Moore took a chance on a school that hasn’t produced many NFL star wideouts. Oregon has always lived with explosive plays on the ground and flashy stunts through the air built off the run game. Moore’s ability to win in multiple areas of the field and become a quarterback’s best friend has reshaped Oregon’s offense into a pass-first, “bombs away” style offense, and it’s driving the Ducks in a playoff push.
That’s not just a star. That’s the sign of a superstar.
"The start of the season we weren't, of course, in the best situation, you know, with guys going down," Moore explained. "A lot of things going on, stuff like that, a lot of adversity, a lot of distractions. But now we're able to regroup and bring ourselves back down and have some big wins these past couple games. So just trying to keep them going is the main thing, but other than that, I can say we're gonna keep our foot on everybody's neck."
Moore leads by example, blocking with intensity to spring big plays in the run game, earning his work as a receiver. It’s led to a better collective effort in the receiver room in that department, showcased by Jalen Lott’s key block on Dierre Hill Jr.’s sprint to the end zone in the fourth quarter.
"I made varsity on my high school team by blocking my freshman year," Moore said. "I was able to block the biggest guy. So just trying to enforce it in our room is the biggest thing. Because like we say all the time, the offensive line is gonna get the ball past the line of scrimmage. After that, it's up to us in the back end to create the explosives."
RAIOLA TO MOORE FOR A 59-YARD SCORE!@oregonfootball pic.twitter.com/Mj6Mb1NL0T
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 14, 2026
Just before halftime against Michigan, Moore let Raiola do the work, using his legs to draw the defense in before flinging it down the sideline to Moore for a walk-in 59-yard touchdown. Moore diagnosed the coverage pre-snap, and when the scramble drill kicked off, Raiola only had one target in mind.
"They busted the coverage. They were supposed to be in a cover two," Moore said. "I saw the corner give me a cloud look, so I had a fade route. So, of course, I went outside of him. Once I went outside, Dylan made the choice to roll out. As soon as he rolled out, the safety felt threatened or something, so he came down. Being that we had J-Mac — who's been balling — you can't just leave a guy like J-Mac open. He went down, and you can't guard both of us. So one of us is open. It just so happened to be me, and Dylan made that throw. I was gonna walk into the end zone, but you know, had to be a pro player right there."
"Dakorien just mailboxed me," Raiola said. "I was like, 'Alright, shoot, I got the win. Let me let it rip to him.' So it was a good way to end the half and to keep the momentum going."
The win against Michigan saw Jeremiah McClellan fully reintroduced into the game plan, and while the junior led the team in receiving yards, it didn’t dilute Moore’s workload at all. Rather, it gave the Ducks more options, alongside Evan Stewart and Jamari Johnson, to work with in the passing game.
Oregon will finish the regular season slate on the road against Michigan State on a short week and back home against Washington with a chance to finish 9-3 and back into the playoff. The Ducks need some help to make it to the Big Ten title game, but Oregon’s only concern right now should be winning the game in front of them, and let the rest of the college football world indulge in the chaos.
"I would definitely say it shows the level of confidence that the team, and most definitely coach Lanning, have in me," Moore said of his recent play. "So my job is to go out there and do what I do every single time, and that's what I've been doing. So that's all I can say."
The game plan is working, and even if the game plan is as simple as, “Screw it, Dakorien’s down there somewhere,” that’s better than what the Ducks were doing before, throwing screen pass after screen pass in hopes of breaking something big.
Moore plays bigger than his 5-foot-11 stature, and the Ducks are putting the world on notice. Dan Lanning said he believes the rest of the country “don't want us in those 12 teams,” referring to the playoff field, and it just might be because Moore is unrecoverable right now.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dakorien Moore thriving in feature role in revised Oregon offense
