It’s been a banner year for [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag]. The Oklahoma Sooners quarterback had a career year that culminated in a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 first-team selection.
Gabriel set career highs in completion percentage, yards, and total touchdowns. He accounted for more than 4,000 yards and 42 total touchdowns.
His career year has Gabriel in line for the Manning Award after being named a finalist on Thursday.
In its 20th year, the Manning Award honors the best quarterback in the country and takes into account a player’s bowl performance. The Award was created by the All-State Sugar Bowl in honor of Archie, Peyton, and Eli Manning.
In his career year in 2023, Gabriel was named the Davey O’Brien National QB of the Week twice, Maxwell Award Player of the Week, Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, and was a three-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
Two former Sooners have won the award. [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag] won the Manning Award in 2017 and [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag] won it in 2018.
Dillon Gabriel came to Oklahoma after spending the first three seasons of his career at UCF. Initially, he looked to be headed to UCLA in the transfer portal after the 2021 season, but after [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] left for USC, Gabriel switched course to join Jeff Lebby, his former offensive coordinator at UCF, in Norman.