Oklahoma football: 10 Sooners who defined Quarterback U
By Josh Yourish
There is certainly some debate about which school has produced the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL, but with four Heisman trophy-winning quarterbacks and three No. 1 overall NFL draft picks, the evidence points to the Oklahoma Sooners. OU is QBU and these are the players who set the gold standard at the quarterback position in Norman.
In the past, playing quarterback at Oklahoma meant running the ball. That’s what won Barry Switzer three national championships, and what drove Troy Aikman to UCLA. Bud Wilkinson won his three championships while barely asking his quarterbacks to do anything more than hand the ball off.
Things have changed since then, Bob Stoops brought the forward pass to Norman in 1999 and another national title in 2000. Especially from the end of Bob Stoops’ tenure to Lincoln Riley’s run from 2017-21, Oklahoma had outstanding quarterback play which carried the Sooners to four College Football Playoff appearances.
That excellence didn’t end when Riley took Caleb Williams with him to USC because Brent Venables got Dillon Gabriel in the transfer portal. Gabriel’s time in Norman is over, so it’s time for five-star Jackson Arnold to take over as a true sophomore next year. Could he be the next to join this lineage of great quarterbacks at QBU and overtake his predecessor on this list?
Oklahoma: 2022-23
Passing yards: 6,828
TD: 55 INT: 12
NFL: N/A
Gabriel started as a true freshman at UCF in 2019, and his career in college football still isn’t over. Gabriel spent three seasons at UCF, but in his third year, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Following the 2021 season, Gabriel transferred to Oklahoma and put together two prolific years for the Sooners.
Oklahoma went 6-7 in 2022 behind Gabriel but improved to 10-2 with him at quarterback in 2023. His greatest moment as a Sooner came in the Red River Rivalry. He threw for 285 yards and a touchdown on 23 of 38 passing and ran for another 114 yards and another score. Many of those yards and his only TD throw came on a heroic final drive with the Sooners trailing Texas 30-27. He led a five-play 75-yard touchdown drive for the 34-30 win.