Dillon Gabriel shares impressions of Texas' defense
Now in his second season with the Oklahoma Sooners, Saturday will be quarterback Dillon Gabriel‘s first time playing the Texas Longhorns. He missed Red River last season due to an injury. That game quickly got out of hand for the Sooners, but Oklahoma expects better results this year.
After five different players threw a pass in Red River for Oklahoma in 2022, the Sooner will rely on Gabriel to attack the Texas defense. That’s a defense that Gabriel recently shared his first impressions of ahead of the game.
“They’re very physical,” Dillon Gabriel said. “They’ve been dominant in their first five games and just have been playing really good football. So, it’ll be a great challenge for us and just being able to play ball.”
Texas has the 17th-ranked total defense, giving up 290.8 yards per game, and the 12th-ranked scoring defense, giving up 12.5 points per game through its first five games. That includes games against Alabama and a Kansas team that was ranked at the time.
For his part, Dillon Gabriel has a 75.2 percent completion percentage, 1,593 passing yards, and 15 touchdowns to only two interceptions to this point in the season. Stopping him is going to be a challenge for Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian knows it.
“We’re going to get their best version,” Sarkisian said. “Dillon is a fantastic player. He was a great player at UCF, he’s a great player now for OU. So, we know we’re going to get the best version of him.”
To this point in the season, Texas and Oklahoma have been the two best teams in the Big 12, adding another layer to the rivalry this season. On top of that, this is both of their last season playing in the Big 12 and ESPN’s College GameDay will be in town to celebrate Red River.
Senior Bowl director raves about Dillon Gabriel
Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy praised Dillon Gabriel, explaining that he would make a lot of sense for the Miami Dolphins. There, he would likely backup fellow left-handed and Hawaiian quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
“He’s kind of the overlooked quarterback in this class right now. You’re hearing nothing about him. But man, he’s playing really efficient football right now. He can move and he can throw accurately on the move. I haven’t looked at the numbers from the past weekend, but going into the weekend, he was like 78% with 12 touchdowns and one pick. Playing really good football,” Nagy said.
“It sounds like a cop out a little bit because I know he’s been compared to Tua since their days growing up in Hawaii. Lefty, Hawaiian kid who broke all Tua’s records. But really, when you watch him, there are some similarities there. Going back to my time scouting for the Seattle Seahawks, we tried forever to find a guy that kind of mirrored Russell Wilson’s skillset and we never could really find that guy. The Miami Dolphins have to be interested in (Gabriel).”