Earlier in the week, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] called it a “full circle” moment playing his former team. Gabriel led the Oklahoma Sooners to an ugly win over the [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag] in Norman.
He finished 25 of 38 for 253 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Now, many have criticized the offense’s performance, rightfully so. But the Knights actually have a top-30 pass defense in 2023.
However, in the 4th Quarter, Gabriel and the offense got rolling. He talked about what changed after the game.
“Just came out flat,” Gabriel said. “Not happy about it one bit, but I just love how we responded. Things weren’t going our way, a lot of it self-inflicted. But just finding a way to win. Got some stuff you can take away but definitely not in the fashion, at the end of the day, a W is a W.”
That’s what great teams do. I’m not saying Oklahoma is a great team, but great teams find ways to win when they don’t have their “A” game. The Sooners were able to do that.
In a perfect world, the more talented team would always blow out the opponent, but that’s not reality. Every team has a game where they just don’t play well.
This was a game last year’s team wouldn’t have won. They lost every one-score game they played a year ago. This year, they’re 2-0 in one-score games.
In 2023, when it comes to the fourth quarter, the Oklahoma Sooners find a way to win.
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