Two five-star quarterbacks just made decisions that completely changed Ohio State’s 2026 season
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s 2026 game against Oregon just got a little bit more interesting thanks to the decision of not one, but two former five-star quarterbacks.
Dylan Raiola had already decided that he’d head to the Ducks for his third season of college football after spending his first two as Nebraska’s starting quarterback. That decision has officially been made with the understanding that 2026 will essentially be a gap year for Raiola, following in the footsteps of the guy he’ll spend the next year learning behind.
Dante Moore has decided that Oregon’s 56-22 loss to Indiana in the Peach Bowl won’t be the last game he plays for Dan Lanning. The potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft is putting off his future in favor of returning for a fourth year of college football, third with the Ducks and the second as their starting quarterback.
Two years ago, he was in Raiola’s shoes. He was a five-star in the 2023 class who’d just spent his freshman year starting at UCLA, where he looked every bit like a first-year player in the sport. He then decided to head to Oregon — the school he was once committed to as a recruit — to spend the year learning behind Dylan Gabriel in what proved to be a fruitful year. He stepped into the starting role in 2025, throwing for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns while completing 71.8% of his passes.
That should’ve been enough for him to leap the NFL, where there was a strong possibility that the only quarterback taken before him come April would be Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, who’s also the only quarterback to beat him this season.
Instead, he’s back for one more season. Doing so allows Raiola to spend the year recovering from a season-ending broken right fibula. It also provides another worthy opponent that OSU’s Julian Sayin must prove his worth against.
Back in 2024, Moore and Sayin were spectators when the Buckeyes and Ducks faced off twice, with the latter winning in the regular season and the former winning the rematch in the Rose Bowl. This fall, they’ll have their chance to make their mark in what’s quickly becoming a rivalry between two of the Big Ten’s best programs.
The conference hasn’t yet put out the 2026 schedule, even if the opponents are already known. Depending on when this game is played, the ramifications could fall anywhere from simply being a chance for both teams to make an early statement, or get an important win as each positions itself to get to the Big Ten Championship Game.
But for the two five-star quarterbacks, it’s a chance to assert dominance over the other as what might be the top two guys in a conference flooded with quarterback talent.
There were already a handful of Ohio State games that NFL teams in need of a quarterback going into the 2026 draft will be watching closely. Moore’s return adds one more game to that list.
