Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel Previews Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State

On Saturday Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel met with reporters in Eugene to preview the Ducks’ Rose Bowl matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Below are some of his key quotes from his press conference.

On if there’s such a thing as too much preparation with this amount of time off

Gabriel: “I think that’s for certain people. I think for me, I appreciate the whole process of it and love the routine. I remember coming back from the award weekend and things were just going a million miles per hour, but then when I got back on the field. Just the calming enjoyment. The smile on my face, I was like, wow. I know this is what I like to do and love to do. So that side of things, there’s a grind to it, but also we’ve had a lot of time to be fresh, and I think that’s more mentally than physically. So it’s allowed us to just prepare the right way. And like I said, I love it. It’s a fun routine that I’ve began to make my own in my own way, and I think you’re forever evolving. But I think it’s it’s kind of person to person on on too much, or too little, or the right amount.”

On conditioning aspect, how the offense stays fresh and connected heading into Rose Bowl

Gabriel: “I think it has to do with rep count. I’m not too educated on the whole schedule wise, but I will say the communication on the front end, knowing what you know the Leadership Council is getting into. And Coach Lanning also presenting the plan to us prior to this whole, I guess preparation and knowing what was going to go down. But that allowed us to know what was in store in the future and prepare accordingly. So it was a great time off for us, but also a great way to work. And found a way to get some rest mentally and physically, but also keep us in shape.”

On Ohio State’s performance vs. Tennesse

Gabriel: “They’re a great team. A team that’s had a lot of success and extremely talented. I think that’s no secret and anyone watching on the TV can see that. So we know we got a great challenge.”

On his emotional remnants coming into Rose Bowl

Gabriel: “Nothing in the past can help you here in the future. Maybe trying to see if you could do something different here and there. But that’s why it’s history and there’s a new matchup and a new game, and it’s totally different circumstances. I think everyone’s aware of that, but for the most part, we just here right in the present and taking it one day at a time, and knowing that the rest of that will take care of itself. Knowing that it’s been some time since then. The teams are different, like I said, the environment’s different and the stakes are different.”

On what the next gear of Oregon’s offense looks like

Gabriel: “I think us continuing to execute play clean and play at a high level. I think you’ve seen spurts of it, but how consistent can we be at doing that? And I think that will be the difference of us being where we are or where we want to be.”

On where the Oregon offense has improved since the last meeting against Ohio State

Gabriel: “Just cleaning up all things that we need to. I think in self scout and the first two weeks, and even preparing for the opponents we could play, I think it allowed us to do a lot of soul searching and how we could be better, or this could be the difference in being good to great. We talk about it a bunch, but easy to say, hard to do. So just being intentional in that and when we do get those reps, how we can make it even better. Or that one block, that one key catch or throw that could be the difference. So that’s we’ve been harping on.”