Gabe Ikard believes Jackson Arnold's presence benefits Dillon Gabriel

The Oklahoma Sooners have one of the most explosive offenses in all of college football this season. The Sooners are averaging 47.4 points per game, ranking them third in the country in that stat. A big part of that has been the stellar play of their quarterback, Dillon Gabriel.

He’s completed 75.2% of his passes for 1,593 yards, while tossing in 15 touchdowns and two interceptions. On Thursday night’s podcast with On3’s Andy Staples, Gabe Ikard said he believes that having former five-star signal-caller Jackson Arnold waiting in the wings has allowed the OU coaching staff play Gabriel with more freedom, knowing he’s got such an elite talent behind him.

“Yeah, that’s definitely part of it. Right. You’ve seen DGB more involved with his legs. And in fact, truck sticked a guy last week for a touchdown run. That one was not on the bingo card for me. But, not only is the staff, Jeff Lebby and this offensive staff more comfortable getting him more involved in the run game. I think Dillon Gabriel is just more comfortable with everything that comes with being the quarterback at Oklahoma. Right,” Ikard said on Thursday evening.

“People may not realize this, if you’re the quarterback at OU, you’re one of the most famous people here,” Ikard continued.

Andy Staples mentioned how there are plenty of previous Oklahoma quarterbacks that have statues on campus. The Sooners have no shortage of former Heisman Trophy winners at the quarterback position: Jason White, Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray.

“Yes. And those are the guys you’re being compared to. And there’s still a small portion of OU’s fanbase that’s like Dillon Gabriel’s not good enough. We want to see Jackson Arnold,” Ikard said.

Jackson Arnold was one of the most highly regarded prospects in the country coming out of high school. He was one of the few prospects in the 2023 cycle that earned a lofty five-star plus+ ranking from the experts at On3. He played his high school football at Denton Guyer (Denton, Texas). According to the On3 Industry Rankings, he was rated as the No. 8 overall prospect in the country and the No. 4 overall quarterback in America.

In limited action this season, he’s looked sharp, completing 13 of 15 passes for 169 yards, while tossing two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Those people are insane, because Dillon Gabriel has played some of the best football of any quarterback in the country. Now has the competition been great? No, but you can only play your schedule. Right. Dillon Gabriel has to play really, really well or Oklahoma will lose, in my opinion,” Ikard said of his thoughts on the Red River Shootout on Saturday.

As a runner, Gabriel has also rushed 29 times for 95 yards and four touchdowns this season.

Both Oklahoma and Texas are currently undefeated headed into Saturday’s highly anticipated matchup. Oklahoma is currently ranked No. 12 in the nation and the Longhorns are currently ranked No. 3 in the country. Kick for that one is set for noon EST and the game will be nationally televised on ABC.