Get to Know your starting QB... Matt Moore

[Ricky Spanish]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Moore_%28American_football%29

Matthew Erickson Moore (born August 9, 1984 in Van Nuys, California) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Oregon State.

Early years

After playing youth football for 6 years with Palmdale Youth Football (California), Moore attended William S. Hart High School in Newhall, California. Was a two-year letterman as a quarterback and defensive back and was rated the No. 8 quarterback in the nation and the FarWest Offensive Player of the Year by SuperPrep. Was named first team All-State, first team All-CIF Southern Section, and the Southern Section Division III Offensive Player of the Year. Was named to the Los Angeles Times All-San Fernando Valley team as well as the region Player of the Year. Led Hart to a 13-0 record as a senior and the Southern Section title. In the state title game against Valencia he passed for 277 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for 95 yards and a score in a 42-13 victory. As a senior he threw for 3,334 yards on 234 of 353 (66.3%) passing with 33 touchdowns. Was solid on both sides of the ball, being named All-CIF as a junior at safety before focusing on the QB position his senior year. Was selected to play in the 2002 North-South Shrine All-Star game. Also lettered two years in baseball as a third baseman.

College career

[edit] 2002

Began his college football career at UCLA. Was slated to redshirt, but was pressed into duty due to injuries to Cory Paus and Drew Olson against Cal. Appeared in six games as a true freshman, becoming the first Bruin true-freshman quarterback to start since Cade McNown. The Bruins defeated Stanford in Moore’s debut, making him the first true-freshman QB in his first game to lead UCLA to victory. Led the team to seven scoring drives against the Cardinal. Saw action against Arizona, USC, Washington State, and New Mexico in the Las Vegas Bowl as a reserve. Was 7 for 11 for 64 yards and one touchdown in the annual rivalry game vs. USC. For the season he completed 33 of 62 passes for 412 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

[edit] 2003

Started four of the eight games he appeared in at UCLA. Threw for 555 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions as a sophomore, completing 52 of 103 passes. Started the season opener against Colorado, but suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for the next three games. Had difficulty regaining the starting job with just eight pass attempts over the next three games. Moved back in front of Olson on the depth chart for the Oct. 26 game at the Rose Bowl against Arizona State, passing for 190 yards and a touchdown in UCLA’s 20-13 win. Also started the team’s next two games against Stanford and Washington State.

[edit] 2004

Moore did not play in 2004 while attending the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. Although he had not played baseball since high school, he was selected in the 22nd round of the 2004 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels after scouts saw him play in a Southern California semi-pro baseball league and invited him to private workouts with the team.

[edit] 2005

Although he also strongly considered Colorado State, Moore enrolled at Oregon State in January 2005 and participated in spring training with the team. Head coach Mike Riley announced him as the leader on the depth chart entering the 2005 season. Finished the season with 2,711 yards passing, the ninth-highest total for a single season at OSU. His .594 completion percentage was third among the 20-best single season yardage performances in school history. Injured his right knee in the second quarter of the 10th game of the season against Stanford and missed the remainder of the year. His 271.1 yards passing per game was second in the Pac-10, trailing only USC’s Matt Leinart (293.5). Making yet another record-breaking debut, he threw for 367 yards in the season opener against Portland State, the most ever by a Beaver quarterback in his first start. Threw for a career-high 436 yards against Arizona, had 317 yards at Louisville, and 311 against Arizona State. Hit Mike Hass on a 63-yard touchdown strike against Washington State that gave OSU the lead 37-33 after the team trailed 30-13 late in the second quarter. Also had two 58-yard passes—one to Anthony Wheat-Brown in the team’s upset of No. 18 California in Berkeley and the other one week later (again to Hass) in his return to the Rose Bowl.

2006

Started all 14 games for the Beavers and was an All-Pac 10 honorable mention leading the Beavers to a 10-win season capped off by a Sun Bowl victory against Mizzou. After a 2-3 start, Moore and coach Mike Riley received a great deal of criticism from fans. Both found redemption after winning the next 8 of 9 games. This streak included a win over #3 ranked USC and a Civil War win at home. On the season, Moore completed 229 of 378 passes for 3,022 yards and 18 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He set an Oregon State record for the most consecutive pass attempts without an interception with 183 before having that streak end in the Sun Bowl.[2] He was named MVP of the Sun Bowl after throwing for 356 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for one touchdown. The 4 passing TDs were a Sun Bowl record. In the second-highest scoring game in the Sun Bowl's 73-year history. He was 5-for-7 for 55 yards on the winning drive, setting up a 2-point conversion to put the Beavers up 39-38 with 22 seconds left to play

Dallas Cowboys

Moore was not selected in the 2007 NFL Draft, but was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. Despite completing 21 of 29 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions to generate a 100.1 quarterback rating during the preseason for the Cowboys, Moore was waived on September 1, the Cowboys intending to sign him to their practice squad had he passed through waivers.

[edit] Carolina Panthers

He was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers the following day.[4] Moore saw his first regular season action against the New Orleans Saints in the 5th game of the season. Quarterback David Carr (who was playing in place of injured starter Jake Delhomme) left the game with a back injury after being sacked near the end of the first quarter. His first NFL completion was a 43-yard pass to Keary Colbert, but his playing time was brief as Carr returned to the field near the end of the first half.

After a string of ineffective performances from Carr and Vinny Testaverde, Moore started his first NFL game on December 16, 2007 against the Seattle Seahawks. He led the Panthers to victory against the Seahawks while completing 19 of 27 passes for 208 yards without a turnover. After a tough loss against Dallas the next week, where he had a touchdown and an interception all the while completing 15 of 28 passes for 182 yards, he threw for two touchdowns in a road win against Tampa Bay. Moore was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for December after these performances.