Dillon Gabriel shares what he is excited about for Oklahoma spring game

On Saturday, Dillon Gabriel will get his first chance to represent the Oklahoma Sooners as their starting quarterback. A transfer from UCF, Gabriel will trot onto the field at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium to lead the first team offense in the annual spring game at 3 p.m. CT.

When Gabriel first arrived on campus, he didn’t have much opportunity to ponder what that moment might mean to him. He was too busy settling into the offense and getting to know his new teammates. But now, with the final week of spring practice underway, he couldn’t be more excited.

“It definitely does (mean something to me),” Gabriel said after practice Tuesday. “I’m glad you asked that because a lot of things have been going a million miles per hour since I got here. Just trying to be focused and keep the main thing the main thing. Now, kind of being on the back end of spring ball, I’m super grateful to be here. I love this place. I love the people I’m around. Something I always think about is: ‘I love what I do, where I do it and who I do it with.’ Whenever that aligns, I’m grateful. To run out in front of Sooner Nation will be super fun.”

Dillon Gabriel has plenty of expectations to live up to at Oklahoma, which has become known for its high level of quarterback play over the years. The Sooners have sent three quarterbacks to the NFL over the past five seasons in Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts. Last year OU played two former five-star recruits at the position in Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams.

A three-star recruit in the 2019 class, Gabriel doesn’t enter the year as one of the premier NFL quarterback prospects, but brings college experience as a starter the past three seasons with the Knights. He also has familiarity working with new Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, whom he played under at UCF in 2019 as a true freshman. Gabriel showed then that he was a special player, finishing with 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading the Knights to a 10-3 record.

He followed that up with 3,570 yards and 32 touchdowns as a sophomore, as it appeared primed to become a star in 2021. However, Gabriel suffered a broken clavicle in the third game of the season and sat out the rest of the year. How he bounces back from that injury will be a major storyline to monitor in the spring game Saturday.

Once again, a new era at quarterback has begun in Norman. Only time will tell if it can be as fruitful as the ones the preceded it.