Dillon Gabriel announces he is out indefinitely with shoulder injury

UCF football just received a tough blow. Starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a shoulder injury on the final play of Friday night’s loss against Louisville, and Gabriel has announced that he is out indefinitely with a fractured clavicle. Gabriel will not require surgery, per UCF Football’s announcement.

The UCF quarterback shared a message on Twitter on Saturday revealing the severity of his injury.

“I’d like to start by thanking my family, friends, coaches, teammates, and fans for all the love,” Gabriel said. “Unfortunately, in last night’s game I fractured my clavicle. I thank God that I will not need surgery, but at this point there is no timetable for my return. Thank you to everyone for their support during this time. I know I’ll be back better than ever. Go Knights. Charge on.”

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— Dillon Gabriel (@_dillongabriel_) September 18, 2021

Gabriel suffered the injury on a multi-lateral attempt at the end of the game as UCF desperately tried to find the endzone to force overtime. Gabriel walked off the field under his own power, but he was carted to the locker room and left the game wearing a sling. UCF lost the game 42-35.

Gabriel has done well as UCF’s starting quarterback

When Gabriel joined UCF’s program as a freshman in 2019, he instantly ran away with the starting quarterback job. As a freshman, Gabriel threw for 3,653 yards, 29 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Last season, he threw for 3,570 yards, 32 touchdowns and four interceptions. Through three games this season, Gabriel has completed a career-high 68.6 percent of his passes with 818 yards, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions.

Gabriel’s emergence over the last two years led to former star starting quarterback McKenzie Milton transferring to Florida State. When Milton announced his intent to transfer once he was able to return to football, he mentioned Gabriel as a key reason behind it. Milton understood that Gabriel didn’t deserve to be put into a quarterback position after the success he has seen.

“I have one shot to go chase a dream,” Milton said when he announced his intent to transfer. “A lifelong dream to play in the NFL. It’s hard, it’s one of the hardest things for me to do. But it makes the most sense. This is Dillon Gabriel’s team now.”

Behind Gabriel, UCF has Mikey Keene, Quadry Jones, and Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room. Keene has completed four of his seven passes this season for 55 yards and a touchdown. Jones has completed his lone pass attempt this year for 14 yards and has rushed for five additional yards. Gatewood has yet to attempt a pass this season, but he has four rushes for 35 yards.

UCF finished just on the outside of the latest AP Top 25 Poll. The Knights finished with 111 points in the voting, which was the 26^th highest total. UCF begins AAC play next weekend against Navy. The Knights will face off against No. 8 Cincinnati in what should be a very entertaining matchup on October 16.