Healed and healthy, Moore looks forward

OSU quarterback says he’s ready for the season to start

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Feb 24, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

CORVALLIS Ñ Wouldn’t you know it? Matt Moore is ready for the 2006 football season, and it’s still more than six months away.

“Wish it started tomorrow,” says Moore, who has spent the winter rehabilitating from a slightly torn posterior cruciate knee ligament suffered in the penultimate game of the 2005 season against Stanford. Surgery wasn’t necessary.

Moore says he is “pretty much 100 percent” healed from the injury that cost him a chance to play against Oregon in the Civil War game and ended a year that began with promise.

“I’m doing everything now Ñ running, throwing,” says the native of Valencia, Calif., who sat out a season after transferring from UCLA. “There’s no pain. I’ll be ready to go when spring ball starts (April 3).”

In 9 1/2 games as a junior, Moore completed 211 of 355 passes (59.4 percent) for 2,711 yards and 11 touchdowns with 19 interceptions. Only Derek Anderson, Jonathan Smith and Erik Wilhelm have thrown for more yards in a season for Oregon State. Moore ranked third in the Pac-10 in yards per game behind a pair of seniors, Southern Cal’s Matt Leinert and UCLA’s Drew Olson, and 18th nationally.

But the 19 interceptions tied for the national lead, and his seven turnovers Ñ six interceptions, one fumble Ñ are an indelible memory in a 29-27 home loss at Arizona that did as much as anything to send OSU to a 5-6 record and no bowl appearance for only the second time in seven seasons.

“There were a lot of ups and downs,” Moore says. “We started off hot, but personally, I didn’t finish. That bothers me. The ending was harsh. As a team, our attitude changed. The morale of the team was kind of shattered at the end of the year.

“But that’s all gone. I can tell that from the mood of the players during winter conditioning. Workouts have been completely different. We’re all definitely looking forward to next season.”

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