Dillon Gabriel reveals how Oklahoma manages expectations each week
Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel spoke to the media following their 33-3 win over Kent State, where he first learned the news of Texas A&M and Notre Dame losing in upset fashion in week 2. Gabriel was definitely surprised, especially with the news of the Aggies losing, and spoke on how those games can relate to his own Oklahoma program.
“You just can’t take this game for granted, you can’t go in just expecting because we’re Oklahoma to walk in a game, because you’re any team. That’s why we play the game and you gotta go out and prove it every single week,” Gabriel said.
The Sooners are currently sitting at 2-0, and have only faced group-of-five competition so far this season, outscoring their opponents 80-16 through two weeks. Despite their games not being too competitive so far this season, Gabriel doesn’t take their outcomes lightly and looks forward to improving.
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“That’s the beauty of it, but shoot we’ll never take a win for granted, just got a bunch of things to fix and clean up, especially on my end. That’s the beauty of it too, come out with a win and go from there,” Gabriel said.
Gabriel’s definitely being a little hard on himself, as he’s thrown for an efficient 529 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions through two games. The Sooners will get their first power five test this weekend as they take on Nebraska following the firing of their head coach Scott Frost.
It sounds like Gabriel won’t be underestimating any opponent the Sooners face any time soon, and combining that mentality with the mindset to improve on his already elite play could take the Oklahoma offense to even greater heights this season.
Brent Venables praises Dillon Gabriel for his leadership: ‘He’s an assassin’
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables had some big praise for his quarterback Dillon Gabriel following their 33-3 win over Kent State.
“He’s an assassin, it’s not his first rodeo he’s been around the game lines and he’s just a ball junkie. He’s a great leader, the game comes easy to him in so many ways,” Venables said.
The Sooners had a slow start in their last game, heading into halftime only up 7-3 to the Golden Flashes. But they picked things up in the second half, led by Gabriel’s 296 yards and three touchdown performance on the day. Venables talked about Gabriel’s mentality and leadership, which was on display this weekend as he brought the Sooner offense back to life after halftime
“But his best attribute is he never gets too high or too low, he’s the same guy,” Venables explained. “Every once in a while he’ll have a nice smile when he makes a big time play, but he’s the same guy every day like nonstop. That’s what we said, just be who you are, nothing more nothing less. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, we gotta take what’s there and his leadership is a big part of that.”
Teams rely on the leadership of the quarterback in tough moments, and the Sooners were certainly in one as they were on upset alert for half of their last matchup. But Gabriel stepped up to the plate, and Venables touched on the qualities he put on display in those moments.
“Not pointing a finger, not getting mad at the play caller, or getting mad at the o-line, or getting mad at receivers, pushing the blame. It’s easy under stress to do something like that, but he’s a great leader, he’s got great qualities and poise is one of his best qualities he has.” Venables said.
Venables made it clear Gabriel has all the intangibles, and his on the field play has spoken for itself this season, and it will be interesting to see how far the Sooners can take the leadership of their new coach and quarterback the rest of the season.