Tag: luke moga

Spring Position Preview: Ducks’ QB room brings new look, high ceiling into 2024 season

Previewing the Oregon Ducks quarterback room heading in to the 2024 season as we get set for spring football to return later this month.

After a couple of long off-season months, the grass is starting to grow and trees are getting ready to bloom. Spring is coming in Eugene, and with it comes the long-awaited return of football for the Oregon Ducks. A lot will look different in this new year for Dan Lanning and his team, with several of last year’s top players moving onto the NFL, including guys like Bo Nix, Troy Franklin, Bucky Irving, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and Brandon Dorlus. All of that is not to mention the fact that the Ducks are joining the Big Ten, and have a new-look conference to get used to on top of a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff to strive for. 

It’s safe to say that there are a lot of things to talk about going into this spring season, and a lot of storylines to discuss. To get things started, we want to give a position-by-position breakdown of Oregon’s current roster, getting readers up to date on which players left, which players are returning, and what the overall outlook is going into the spring. We will start with the quarterbacks.

When one of the best quarterbacks in the history of college football walks out the door, it’s safe to say that there are big shoes to fill for the next guy stepping up. In 2023, Bo Nix set the college football record for the best completion percentage in the history of the sport, leading the Ducks to a victory in the Fiesta Bowl after finishing third in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Nix is now off to the NFL, where he is projected to be a first-round pick. While Oregon has a lot of production to fill at the QB spot, they did a great job of finding potential difference-makers in the transfer portal at the position, bringing in both Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore to compete for the top spot.

There are also another couple of names to know on the depth chart in the QB room. Here’s a full breakdown of the passers currently on the roster in Eugene.

Dan Lanning details what 2024 QB Luke Moga brings to the table for the Ducks

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning details what 2024 QB Luke Moga brings to the table.

The quarterback position has been a hot topic of conversation for the Oregon Ducks over the past month or so. Not only did Bo Nix finish as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, but the Ducks also saw Ty Thompson leave for the transfer portal while both Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore transferred in for the 2024 season.

On top of that, Oregon also signed a QB in the 2024 class, bringing in Luke Moga from Arizona.

Moga may not be in line to see the field in the next year or two, sitting behind the two aforementioned QBs, as well as freshman Austin Novosad, but the Ducks’ coaching staff is still very high on what he brings to the table.

“He’s one of the few guys I got to watch perform this season,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said on signing day. “The first thing that stands out to you when you watch this film is his speed and how he can run.”

Moga was an exceptional track athlete at Sunnyslope High School, running a career-best 10.7 100m time as a senior. His ability to move precedes him, but what is most impressive is the work ethic that he brings to the table.

“This is a guy that’s, you know, really passionate about growing and developing,” Lanning said. “Eager again, like many of these guys have mentioned, to learn and get better and appreciates hard work.”

Coming into a program as highly touted as Oregon and standing apart as a true freshman isn’t something that is going to be easy, but based on what we’ve seen from Moga so far, he seems to have what it takes to make a name for himself in Eugene. Based on what Lanning has to say about the young passer, the future looks pretty bright for him as a Duck.

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SIGNED: 3-star QB Luke Moga is a officially a Duck

Luke Moga, a 3-star QB recruit from Arizona, signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Oregon Ducks.

Luke Moga, a 3-star quarterback recruit in the class of 2024, is officially an Oregon Duck. On Wednesday, he signed his national letter of intent to attend Oregon and is expected to enroll almost immediately.

Moga played his high school in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was renowned for his speed. In his sophomore year of high school, Moga ran a 10.93 100-meter dash, which is only 0.61 seconds slower than Ducks CB Rodrick Pleasant (a former track star) ran in his sophomore year.

Moga’s speed is impressive, but what’s talked about less is his talent throwing the ball. Moga has a strong arm, and excels at extending plays when the pocket collapses, both of which are skills he’ll need to achieve his goal of becoming the Ducks starting QB.

Initially, Moga was one of two Ducks’ QB commits in the class of 2024, the other being 4-star Michael Van Buren. But after buzz picked up that the Ducks would be pursuing a QB in the portal, Van Buren decommitted and flipped his commitment to Mississippi State.

Moga chose to stick with the Ducks, but he is walking into a loaded QB room. Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel and UCLA transfer Dante Moore will most likely be the QB1 and QB2 in 2024, Austin Novosad will play third string, and in 2025 Moga will have to compete with QB commit Akili Smith Jr. Moga has a narrow window to break into a starting role as a Duck, but it’s challenge he seems excited for.

Here are some of Moga’s highlights:

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2024 Quarterback Outlook: Ducks with several options going into Big Ten debut

The Oregon Ducks have an open QB1 spot going into their Big Ten debut in 2024, with many options to choose from.

The 2023 season is now behind us, and while there is still a bowl game to be played — The Fiesta Bowl vs. The Liberty Flames — Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are working hard on the construction of their roster and hitting the transfer portal in attempts to formulate what this team will look like going into the 2024 season, the team’s first year in the Big Ten Conference. While they work on bringing new players in via the transfer portal, we want to look at the future breakdown of each position, detailing current players on the roster, incoming recruits, and potential targets on the market right now. We’re going to start at quarterback.

The past offseason was relatively calm for in Eugene, as Oregon Duck fans entered the 2023 season without a quarterback competition to worry about, knowing that incumbent starter Bo Nix was not only going to be the QB1 on the roster but was rightfully being touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate heading into the final year of Pac-12 play.

The same can’t be said about the upcoming 2024 offseason.

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Bo Nix is headed off to the NFL where he is likely to be a first-round draft pick in April. Meanwhile, the Ducks will be looking to name a new starting quarterback as they get ready to enter Big Ten play for the first time. Fortunately for Dan Lanning and Will Stein, they have several options to choose from. Whether it be a current player on the roster like Ty Thompson or Austin Novosad, or a potential incoming portal addition like Dillon Gabriel or Dante Moore, fans should have confidence that no matter who starts for the Ducks in 2024, he won’t be a last-resort option; he will have earned the job.

Let’s look at the various candidates for the starting job, and provide an overview of the projected QB room in 2024 for the Oregon Ducks.

Breaking down Oregon’s history of taking 2 QB recruits in a single cycle

The Ducks took 2 QBs in the 2024 cycle, the sixth time they’ve done so since 2000. What ended up happening the other five times?

The Oregon Ducks are doing something a bit different in the 2024 recruiting cycle. It’s not something that is unheard of, nor is it something that we’ve never seen take place in Eugene. But it is a methodology that you don’t see happen very much, but could see take place more going forward.

The Ducks have a pair of quarterbacks committed to the 2024 class — 4-star Michael Van Buren and 3-star Luke Moga.

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Moga committed near the end of April ahead of the Ducks’ annual spring game, while Van Buren announced his commitment over the weekend. Oftentimes in college football, you see teams take a quarterback each year to keep the depth chart stacked with talent and hopefully maintain the development cycle going forward. However, taking a pair of QBs in the same cycle can complicate things a little bit.

Obviously, both players can’t play at the same time, so it immediately creates competition between the two going forward. Who will eventually become the starter, and what will the other player decide to do? Will he wait it out and try to gain the starting spot eventually, or will he opt to look elsewhere for a starting spot in the new era of the transfer portal?

It will be fascinating to watch how things play out between Van Buren and Moga in Eugene. To try and get a sense of what we might see, I went back and looked at the other times in UO history — since 2000 — that the Ducks have taken multiple QBs in a class.

Here’s what I learned from the five times it happened.

Speed has become a priority for Oregon, displayed in recent recruiting signees and targets

Bringing track speed to the gridiron is something that Dan Lanning is aiming to do in excess, highlighted by recent recruiting success.

It was the Oregon Ducks that brought the speed game to mainstream college football over a decade ago, so it’s a bit strange to see them having to refocus their efforts on that facet.

With the hiring of Dan Lanning, the Ducks have obviously focused on defense and defensive recruiting, bringing more of an SEC mentality to the pacific northwest. That means big lines on both sides of the ball and very skilled players on the outside.

What might be a bit underrated in the SEC brand of play is the speed factor. Those in the skilled positions are not only big, but they have world-class speed, something the Ducks are looking to add as much as possible.

Having a world-class track facility such as the new Hayward Field has to help also. If nothing else, it’s helped in securing two commitments and another recruiting target for the Ducks.

First is cornerback Rodrick Pleasant out of Gardena, Calif. At 5-11 and 180 pounds, Pleasant was ranked as a Top 10 corner from California and a Top 10 player overall from that state. Also a renowned sprinter, Pleasant just broke the state’s high school mark for the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.14 seconds.

Check out Pleasant practically running away from the competition.

For reference, that time would have landed Pleasant in 5th place at the 2022 NCAA Track and Field Championships.

One thing that was noticeable in the spring game is that Oregon’s new offensive coordinator Will Stein likes to roll out the quarterback. A speedy quarterback that rolls out and possibly gives himself time to either throw or tuck and run can be a huge benefit. Recruiting and getting a commitment from a single caller such as Luke Moga fits into those plans perfectly.

The Phoenix, Ariz. native just broke that state’s prep record in the 100-meter dash. Duck track coach Jerry Schumacher has to be jumping up and down with these two.

The final speed demon that Oregon is targeting is 4-star WR Gatlin Bair out of Burley, Idaho. Bair is a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder who is being recruited by Boise State, Michigan, TCU and Nebraska as well as the Ducks.

Bair just had a good showing at the Texas Relays. In a preliminary race, Bair had a 100m time of 10.13 seconds, the second-best time ever in the state. He’s the type of receiver that will be fun to watch in the open field once Bair plays on the college level. Oregon hopes it will be at Autzen Stadium.

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Under Chip Kelly, the Ducks became known for speed, with guys like LaMichael James and DeAnthony Thomas bringing the lightning to Oregon’s thunder.

It appears that Dan Lanning is looking to do the same.

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Recruiting Roundup: 9 college commitments from the weekend

Here are nine notable commitments from over the weekend.

That famous midwestern work ethic was displayed this past weekend in the recruiting race: Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Purdue all got highly-ranked prospects to commit to their respective 2024 recruiting classes, with the Boilermakers doubling up.

Here are nine notable commitments from over the weekend, according to On3.

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Breaking down QB Luke Moga’s commitment, and what it means for QB Michael Van Buren

QB Luke Moga committed to Oregon on Friday. Does that change anything for QB Michael Van Buren? Let’s talk it out.

Earlier this week, a bit of a twist was thrown into the Oregon Ducks quarterback recruiting world when four-star Michael Van Buren announced he would return to Eugene for the annual spring game on Saturday.

That announcement set a series of actions into motion, including a number of predictions for the Ducks to land Van Buren’s commitment, as well as a delayed commitment announcement from three-star Luke Moga, a player who was favored to choose Oregon.

Another surprise came for Duck fans on Friday morning when Moga went back to his original plan and committed to the Ducks.

With Moga committed to Oregon in the 2024 class, what does that mean for Van Buren? Is he still interested? Is he still visiting this weekend? There are questions to answer.

3-star quarterback Luke Moga commits to Oregon

Class of 2024 quarterback Luke Moga has verbally committed to the Ducks a day before the Spring Game.

Just one day before the Spring Game, Dan Lanning already has a win under his belt.

Proof that recruiting never ends, Oregon received a major commitment from three-star quarterback Luke Moga out of Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix, Ariz.. The news was first reported by Hayes Fawcett of On3.com.

“Oregon is home and I’m going to work every day until I bring a National Championship to Eugene,” Moga said via social media. “Excited to join the Duck brotherhood!”

The move comes as a bit of a surprise. Moga was scheduled to make his announcement on April 28 with the Ducks leading for his commitment, but Moga announced that he was going to delay the commitment. Many believe that the delay was due to the fact that Oregon was picking up steam in the recruitment for 4-star QB Michael Van Buren, who announced another visit to Eugene for this weekend.

Both QBs will be in town for the spring game. Does Moga committing mean that Van Buren holds off? Impossible to know.

Moga chose Oregon over schools such as Miami, TCU and a whole host of others. He becomes the 10th verbal commitment out of the Class of 2024 for the Ducks and the first quarterback.

 

Return visits, delayed commitments raise intrigue around UO’s 2024 QB recruitment

4-star QB Michael Van Buren is returning to Oregon next week. 3-star QB Luke Moga is delaying his commitment. Those two things may be very connected.

There are some interesting developments that are taking place when it comes to quarterback recruiting at the University of Oregon.

Over the past couple of months, it has become clear that the Ducks are largely picking between a pair of quarterback recruits in the 2024 class; 3-star Luke Moga and 4-star Michael Van Buren. While there was some early buzz that they might be in the mix to land 5-star QB Dylan Raiola, that has cooled over the past month, and it appeared that one of the two aforementioned players was going to end up being Will Stein’s guy in the 2024 class.

A week ago, handicappers would have said that Moga was the likely option, with a prediction from 247Sports Steve Wiltfong for the rising passer to pick Oregon. However, some things may be changing as the cycle goes on.

On Sunday, Van Buren — who was in Eugene for a visit last weekend — announced that he would be coming back to Oregon for the spring game next weekend. Not long after, Moga announced that he would be delaying his official commitment, which was scheduled for April 28, the day before Oregon’s spring game.

It should also be noted that Moga was on campus with the Ducks this weekend.

So what does all of that mean? I’ve got a few thoughts.