Dillon Gabriel Breaks Down 34-13 Oregon Win Over UCLA

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel was effective and efficient in a 34-13 win over the UCLA Bruins Saturday night. He finished the game with 278 passing yards and three touchdowns, completing 31 of his 41 passes against one interception.

He met with reporters in Pasadena after Oregon moved to 4-0 on the year. Below are some of his top quotes from his press conference.

On Oregon offense in the first half to the second half

Gabriel: “Yeah I just felt like at times I didn’t help us and I feel like our run game was doing well and perimeter and when we got the ball in our playmakers we were doing well. But of course when we didn’t, just put us in bad situations. But things we can learn and improve on and it starts with myself for sure.”

On deep touchdown to Tez Johnson

Gabriel: “Just something we practiced all week, felt really good about. Hit ’em in practice once and it was kind of different the second time. Which is good.”

*PODCAST: Oregon defeats UCLA 34-13, moves to 4-0*

On his Traeshon Holden connection, value to the offense

Gabriel: “I just think he’s a physical body, a guy that’s not afriad of contact. And I think that’s different from E Stew, Tez, J Lo and Kyler. I think they all bring their different skill sets, but I think Trae does a good job of what he’s good at. And he’s elite, not a lot of people give him credit for his speed, but at his size and trustworthy guy that we go to. I think the world of him and of course when you get the ball in the playmakers hands they make plays.”

On what it was like playing in the Rose Bowl

Gabriel: “It was cool it was different. I think as you keep playing games in different environments each of them have their unique parts of it. But also just playing another game with our guys, that’s something I’ll never take for granted as well. And just having a bunch of fun. Winning’s fun, losing isn’t. So simplest terms. I’m glad we do it with our boys.”

On deep ball throughout the game

Gabriel: “Trusting the guys, sorry I’m not trying to be a broken record but when you get the ball in the playmakers hands they make plays. The trust is there, the belief is there. But more importantly guys are elite at what they do and continuing to try and do that and be as efficient as possible so we can continue to do it as much as possible.”

On game plan of attacking the perimeter, what he liked about that

Gabriel: “I thought we had a good game plan going in. I think when we play aggressive naturally it helps us continue to stay ahead of the chains. I think the run game was hitting, I think the guys up front played their butt off. Defense put us in a lot of great positions and really only gave up six points, two field goals. That goes to say as well how talented they are, but also the trust in them and even when we have something before the half, just having that continued belief in them getting a stop and then trying to get us going as well. I think the combination of the O-line up front helping us in the run game, defense putting us in good position helped us flourish for sure.”

On interaction with Bryan Addison after Terrance Ferguson hit

Gabriel: “I think it’s competition. Course there’s some extra little things there with past history, but that’s my brother (Ferguson) a guy I live next to, so naturally you make that happen and kind words were exchanged throughout that process.”