Oregon’s quarterback left the stadium in an ambulance and his team won by 14.
Dante Moore, a projected first-round NFL pick, was hit by USC linebacker Desman Stephens in the second quarter and carted off. Stephens was ejected for targeting. Oregon won 41-27 and moved to 3-1.
The Medical News Is Good
Moore’s MRI and CT scans came back clean. He is in concussion protocol with no timetable and is expected to return this season.
That is the best possible outcome for a player who left on a cart. He was 8-of-10 passing before he exited and has 926 passing yards with nine touchdowns on the season to that point.
Dan Lanning Did Not Hold Back
“It’s a disgusting play,” the Oregon head coach said. “It’s a shame that that happened to a good player when, in my mind, that certainly could have been avoided.”
He also called it as clear as day targeting.
Coaches usually hedge on hits involving their own players, because the officiating decision already went their way and piling on looks petty. Lanning skipped that convention entirely, and the ejection suggests the officials agreed with him.
Dylan Raiola Was Ready
Here is the part that changes Oregon’s season. Raiola, the former five-star who transferred in from Nebraska, came off the bench and led six scoring drives in seven possessions.
Six out of seven. In relief, on the road, against a ranked opponent, in a game his team was not comfortably winning when he entered.
Oregon now has two quarterbacks who can run this offense. Most contenders spend October praying they do not have to find out whether their backup can play. Lanning found out by accident and got an answer he can build around.
What This Does to the Depth Chart
Nothing, if Moore is healthy. He is the better prospect and the established starter, and concussion protocol is not a competition.
Everything, if the protocol drags. A quarterback who threw six scoring drives in seven tries does not go back to holding a clipboard quietly, and Oregon will have a decision that feels harder than it should.
USC Has Its Own Problems
The Trojans host Washington on Saturday as a nine-point favorite, now down a linebacker to ejection fallout and with Lincoln Riley facing hot-seat questions. Riley is 22-16 since the midpoint of 2023, and reporting suggests a contract restructuring means Riley may owe little in the way of a buyout.
Any further Big Ten discipline for Stephens has not been announced, and Moore’s availability for Oregon’s next game has not been determined.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
