‘A Massive Indictment,’ ‘This Is Embarrassing’ — CFB World Rips Oregon’s Coaching Staff for Major Dante Moore Mistake
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Oregon’s stunning loss to Oklahoma State has taken another turn after Cowboys head coach Eric Morris revealed that his defense picked up a major tell from Ducks quarterback Dante Moore.
Oklahoma State pulled off a 39-31 upset over then-No. 6 Oregon in Stillwater, but the Cowboys apparently had another advantage heading into the game. According to Morris, Oklahoma State’s linebackers noticed that Moore’s foot alignment changed depending on whether Oregon was preparing to run or pass.
The revelation quickly caught the attention of college football fans and analysts, with many questioning how Oregon’s coaching staff failed to identify the tendency before the game.
Oklahoma State Picked Up on Moore’s Tendency
Morris discussed the discovery during an appearance on CBS Sports Network and credited linebackers Ethan Wesloski and Tate Romney for noticing the pattern during their film study.
“Coaches are always paranoid. We’re paranoid about, are we getting our signals stolen? We’re paranoid about, are we tipping something off by a stance? An offensive lineman? By the way the quarterback stands? We always live in a state of paranoia,” Morris said. “Those things help a little bit, but execution’s still the most important thing in this game.”
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The comments immediately spread across social media, with several analysts and fans questioning Oregon’s preparation and self-scouting process.
One user on X summed up the growing criticismby saying, “This Oregon situation gets worse by the day.”
Andrew Nemec noted that the tell reportedly came from Moore rather than from Oregon’s offensive line. “Oklahoma State admits it was Moore’s feet – not the OL – that was their big tell,” Nemec said.
Ryan Paganetti, an analytics coach who has worked around the NFL, explained why identifying these tendencies can be such a major part of game preparation.
“There were 2 different playoffs wins that I was fortunate enough to be a part of where we had a blatant run pass tell that was even stronger than this,” Paganetti wrote. “Searching for these was my favorite part of my job, and as I mentioned last week, Mike Macdonald is hunting for these weekly.”
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Football writer Nick Martin focused on what the revelation could say about Oregon’s self-scouting. “Jesus christ, the fact Morris admits it is actually such a massive indictment on the Oregon offensive coaching staff for not noticing this before,” Martin said.
CBS Sports’ Bud Elliott had a much shorter reaction to the revelation, simply saying, “Holy cow.”
Reagan Harris, meanwhile, praised Wesloski for recognizing the tendency and turning it into an advantage. “Wesolski will be playing on Sunday based on this alone. That’s elite IQ & perception,” Harris said.
Fans also questioned Oregon’s preparation, with one writing, “How Oregon didn’t self scout this is embarrassing!”
Moore, who is ranked No. 5 in the PFN 2027 NFL Draft prospect rankings, completed 14 of 29 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns as Oregon suffered the upset loss.
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The bigger question is whether Oregon had identified the same tendency during its own preparation. The revelation has given critics another reason to question what went wrong in Stillwater.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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