Dillon Gabriel – Soonerguys

Arnold steps up to guide Sooners to 31-24 win over Cougars in last Big 12 road trip

Published on November 18, 2023 by Mike

Playing without starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the second half, the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners managed a 31-24 win on a slippery Provo, Utah football field over a scrappy BYU Cougars on Saturday.

Backup freshman QB Jackson Arnold — a heralded recruit seen to be a future star in Norman — saw his most playing time, leading the Sooners after Gabriel was sidelined with a concussion sustained right before halftime.

Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby turned to the Sooners run game, both to ease the pressure on the freshman QB but also to capitalize on a BYU weakness. Gavin Sawchuk had the go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter and led Sooner rushers with 104 yards on 14 carries. Arnold carried the ball eight times for 24 yards.

But a late 3rd down conversion with 2:05 left in the game, with Arnold zipping a slant pass to junior receiver Jalil Farooq, sealed the game. Farooq led the Sooners receivers with five catches and 53 yards.

Keep Reading

Sooners back on course with 59-20 shellacking of Mountaineers

Published on November 12, 2023 by Mike

An Oklahoma offense clicking on all cylinders scored on its first five possessions while its defense held West Virginia to just seven points in that time, then went on to a 59-20 win that saw Dillon Gabriel become the first Sooner quarterback to score eight touchdowns in a game.

Gabriel passed for 423 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and three scores. He surpassed the previous touchdown record of seven set by Baker Mayfield in 2016 and matched by Kyler Murray in 2018.

The performance put Gabriel in the Top 10 of the NCAA’s all-time career passing list.

The game put Oklahoma back on track after two straight losses in previous

Keep Reading

Gabriel wills Sooners to Red River upset

Published on October 8, 2023 by Mike

In a slugfest where neither team held momentum beyond a single possession, the 2023 Red River Rivalry saw running and passing quarterback Dillon Gabriel seemingly willing his crimson-striped team on a 5-play, 75-yard, 62-second drive that ended with him zip tossing a pass to Nic Anderson, standing wide open in the Sooners’ end of the Cotton Bowl, with 15 seconds to play in the game and securing a 34-30 upset Oklahoma win over No. 3 Texas at the Texas State Fair on Saturday.

Gabriel’s performance put him in the Oklahoma football history books and convinced national naysayers that all predictions of the demise of the storied Sooner program, which suffered its worst defeat ever in this game last year, were as flimsy as Big Tex’s pants flapping in the breeze at the other end of the midway.

“He was fearless. I don’t put any limits on what Dillon can do. He’s playing as confident as anybody on our team right now. … He’s just a guy that’s gonna find a way to get it done,” Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables said.

Keep Reading