Oklahoma football: Dillon Gabriel looking forward to better second season

A lot is riding on the performance of Oklahoma football quarterback Dillon Gabriel this season, and he is ready for the ride.

Gabriel, who is in his second season as the Sooners’ signal caller and third season in offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s offense (he played under Lebby for one season at Central Florida), threw for 3,163 yards last season and ran for another 315 yards. The fifth-year senior led the Big 12, averaging 263.6 yards passing and with an efficiency rating 154.4.

Gabriel, who hails from Mililani, Hawaii, on the island O’ahu, played well in his first year at OU. He experienced mostly highs, but there also were some lows, the most obvious of which was to miss a game and a half due to a head injury as a result of a wicked first-half hit while sliding in a loss to TCU.

Oklahoma lost the TCU game 55-24, and with Gabriel not able to play the following week against Texas, the Sooners suffered their most lopsided defeat in the history of the Red River Rivalry, 49-0. OU’s five other losses in 2022 were by seven or fewer points.

The 2022 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year is excited about the coming season. For one thing, he is more comfortable in the new environment, having been in it for over a year now. He is also excited about the returning players on offense and the transfers and incoming freshman and their willingness to put in the hard work and learn the offense.

At Big 12 Media Days last week, Gabriel told reporters that the biggest thing he and his Sooner teammates learned last year was “the difference between winning and losing is very small. It came down to a couple of plays, you know, the way we ended up losing.”

We need to play better situational football and find ways to turn those close losses into W’s, he said. “When you win a lot of things go away.”

Gabriel said among the things he is excited about turning the page and getting ready for the new season is the eagerness of the new transfers and incoming freshman players to learn the offense.

With the amount of experience I have,” he said, “it helps having a bunch of guys who are sponges and try to learn as well. Sometimes it helps on my end as well, learning from them and taking their opinion and perspective.”

The Sooner quarterback and team leader drew high praise at Big 12 Media Days from his head coach, Brent Venables, who lauded Gabriel’s ability to make the players around him better. They’re certainly going to need that again in 2023 with nearly a third of the roster new to the team this season.

Gabriel noted that the team has placed huge emphasis in spring ball and summer training on getting better in third-down situations and gaining the confidence to go for it on fourth down and in the closing two minutes. Getting points and finishing in the fourth quarter.

"“Just being super locked into those details, and trying to get better every day,” he said."

Gabriel said that the game this coming season he most looks forward to is the Red River game with Texas. “That’s a game I obviously didn’t play in (last season),” and I’m excited to play in it, he said.

"“Just walking into the atmosphere is something you dream of and the type of game you want to play in. That’s what college football is all about,” Gabriel said."

Suffice it to say, Venables and the Sooners want him to be able to play in this season’s game as well. They may not have won the game last year, but they almost certainly wouldn’t have been shut out and beaten as badly as half a hundred to nil.