How Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel is Embracing the Pressure, Expectations at OU

Gabriel has minimal experience so far in his career against upper-level competition, but by mid-October this season, he'll be well tested in that area.

When Dillon Gabriel steps behind center for the first snap at practice on Thursday morning, Gabriel will officially be Oklahoma’s starting quarterback for the 2022 college football season.

Gabriel has been the starting QB at Central Florida. Spent three record-setting seasons with the Knights.

But Oklahoma is a different animal entirely. Being the quarterback at OU comes with a certain level of expectation — pressure, some might call it — that 95 percent of other schools just doesn’t have.

They say pressure creates diamonds. But at Oklahoma, that pressure creates bronze statues — statues that stand forever vigilant outside the east side of Memorial Stadium for generations of Sooner Nation to admire.

Jason White. Sam Bradford. Baker Mayfield. Kyler Murray.

No school has more quarterbacks in the Heisman Trophy fraternity than Oklahoma.

Hey, new guy: no pressure.

“It's 11-on-11. Football is football,” Gabriel said at Big 12 Media Days. “And I'm excited that it is on a bigger stage and I'm excited for the opportunity.

“But man, you dream for moments in big games and you dream of leading the team in a two-minute drill to go win the game and score a tuddy. So I'm just living out my dream — and all my dreams came true.”

The only Power 5 conference teams that Gabriel played against in his three seasons at UCF were Stanford, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Louisville. He also played against BYU and Boise State. UCF’s record in those games: 3-3.

Gabriel has never played against a team like Nebraska in a venue like Lincoln. He’s never played against Texas Tech in Lubbock, or Iowa State in Ames. And he’s certainly never played against Texas in Dallas.

He remains unflustered by the Sooners’ daunting schedule — or any other aspect of quarterbacking one of college football’s all-time blue bloods in 2022.

“I think it’s exciting,” Gabriel said. “It’s an opportunity that everyone looks for, dreams for as a young kid. You dream about in your backyard throwing a touchdown, a deep ball to win the game. Now I’m just living out my dream and playing in atmospheres I’ve always wanted to play in. I look it as a great opportunity. I’m really excited. I think it’s what the game is all about — go strap it up for 60 minutes.”

Gabriel led both the Red team and the White team in the Sooners’ spring scrimmage — during which 75,000 Sooner fans filled the stadium. That’s the same weekend he got to meet a Sooner legend: Baker Mayfield.

“I’m continuing to meet guys that played here — not only the quarterback position,” Gabriel said. “The quarterback position is one thing, right? There’s a lot of strong guys that have played here and done really well.

“Just all over. You look at the offensive line position, the receiver position, the running back position. And on the defensive side of the ball. There’s so many guys that have been through this program. It’s a prestigious program with the amount of talent and well-rounded human beings that have been here.”

That weekend made a lasting impression on Gabriel, just as his entire OU experience has so far — one that should serve him well and carry forward through August and the duration of the football season.

“What really stood out to me was really just the love and the passion for the university,” he said. “You look the spring game, having 75,000 fans at that game. And then you look at the softball games. I went to one and it’s a packed house with crimson and cream. And you turn on the TV and you watch the baseball team and it’s crimson and cream and a bunch of supporters. Just the love for this university and the amount of people that are very passionate about it, I think that’s what really stands out.”

The left-handed, cool-as-November Gabriel is already a Sooner fan favorite. But if he goes on the road on Sept. 17 and beats the Huskers? Then rolls into Dallas on Oct. 8 and beats Texas as a first-year starter? He’ll quickly climb to legend status — with half the season yet to play.

“This is what the game is all about: rivalries, big games, atmospheres,” he said. “The fans love it, the players love it, everyone loves it. That’s what we dream to play in. That’s we strap it up and play for 60 minutes, go find out who’s the winner, who’s the loser. That’s what it’s all about.”