1. Dillon Gabriel, QB
High-level football is driven by quarterback play in college or the NFL. Quarterback play can elevate teams beyond their flaws and take them places they wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise.
We’ve seen it happen for the Sooners in recent years, when the quarterback play of [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag], [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag], and [autotag]Jalen Hurts[/autotag] helped Oklahoma make the college football playoffs despite those teams having porous defenses.
This Oklahoma team has a legitimately good defense. Even so, sometimes a quarterback has to go above and beyond to win his team a game or two.
On Saturday, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] had to do that.
And he did. Gabriel put together his most gutsy performance in a game that will probably define his time in Norman. He led the Sooners down the field to win the game on a drive that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown pass to [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag].
Gabriel ended the day with 285 yards passing and a career-high 113 yards rushing and a touchdown. He became the first Sooner to throw for at least 200 yards, run for at least 100 and score a rushing touchdown in the same game since Jalen Hurts in 2019, which also came against Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
His best attribute on the day was how calm and poised he remained whether things were going Oklahoma’s way or not. And it all culminated in that now iconic drive to win the game.
Here’s Dillon Gabriel’s dagger to Nic Anderson from about as close to the action as you can get. pic.twitter.com/m1f8uj1gRp
— Parker Thune (@ParkerThune) October 7, 2023