Moliki Matavao guarantees Dante Moore will be 'the next big thing' in college football

UCLA tight end Moliki Matavao is excited about the future at UCLA. That is primarily because of freshman quarterback Dante Moore, who has the potential to be the best quarterback that UCLA has seen in a long time.

In fact, according to Matavao, Moore is going to be the next big thing in all of college football, not just at UCLA.

“Unreal. I’ve had a lot of quarterbacks throw to me and he’s gonna be the next big thing coming out of college,” Moliki Matavao said. “Guarantee it.”

Interestingly, the connection between Moore and Matavao nearly occurred at another PAC-12 school. Matavao played at Oregon before transferring to UCLA. At the same time, Moore had committed to play at Oregon before flipping to UCLA. So, this is a connection that could have been taking place in Eugene.

Head coach Chip Kelly agrees with Moliki Matavao about Dante Moore’s potential.

“Yeah, I mean I think one thing about the quarterback play is it doesn’t matter what year you’re in, I think you have to be a really quick decision maker, and you have to have repetitive accuracy, he has both. That’s something that’s stood out since the beginning. He may not be able to articulate everything that’s gone on in the play call, you know, he’s still getting that part down, it’s new terminology for him,” Kelly said.

“He came from a decent offense at the high school level… but he’s got a really good feel for the game and intuitive nature of where people are spatially. So, I think he can make good decisions. The next step for him is just that repetitive accuracy. He continues to throw a really, really catchable ball that’s really located in the right spots.”

Could Dante Moore be in a quarterback battle?

Many people expect Dante Moore to start right away for UCLA because of his high ceiling. However, that may not be the case because of his inexperience. ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti explained the problem for Moore.

“For all his talent, Moore has no college experience, and the leap from high school ball to Saturdays is one not many quarterbacks make well,” Uggetti wrote.

“Kelly is coming off his best season since he took the coaching job at UCLA, and while Moore’s ceiling is skyscraper high, there’s a line of thinking that could push Kelly toward a safer choice such as redshirt junior Ethan Garbers, who backed up DTR last season, or incoming Kent State transfer Collin Schlee in order to assure another solid, though not spectacular, season.”