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Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel Lands Big 12 Honor, Named Semifinalist for National Award

The Sooners' quarterback broke the school record with eight total touchdowns and is among the national leaders in every major statistical category.

John E. Hoover

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Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel landed more honors on Monday.

After the highest-scoring game of his college football career, where Gabriel accounted for eight total touchdowns in the Sooners’ 59-20 beatdown of West Virginia, the senior from Mililani, HI, was named Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

Gabriel also was named one of 17 semifinalist for the Maxwell Award for Collegiate Player of the Year. 

Gabriel threw for 423 yards on 23-of-36 passing and ran the ball 11 times for 50 yards. He ran for three TDs and threw for five scores in leading the Sooners to an impressive bounce back win after back-to-back road losses.

In 2017, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield became the first player in FBS history to throw for 14,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a career (14,607 + 1,083) on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy.

On Saturday night, Gabriel became the second (14,274 + 1,026).

Gabriel is the Big 12’s runaway leader and ranks fourth nationally in total offense, averaging 340.6 yards per game. Second among Big 12 QBs is Texas’ Quinn Ewers at 285.6. Gabriel also ranks third in the nation in total points responsible for (21.6 per game).

Gabriel also leads the Big 12 in passing yards (3,069), passing yards per game (306.9), touchdown passes (25), completion percentage (70.5), passer efficiency rating (172.1) and completions (229).

He’s also tied for third in the league with 11 touchdowns scored.

Among FBS quarterbacks, Gabriel ranks 18th in completions (229), ninth in completion percentage (.705), eighth in passing yards (3,069), eighth in yards per attempt (9.4), ninth in TD passes (25), and eighth in passer efficiency rating (172.1) and 16th in rushing touchdowns (11).

It's Gabriel's seventh weekly Big 12 player/newcomer of the week honor, and his third player of the week honor this season.

Three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced on Nov. 28, and the winner will be revealed on Dec. 8.

No. 14-ranked OU (8-2 overall, 5-2 Big 12) is back in action Saturday when the Sooners travel to BYU to take on the Cougars in Provo, UT. Kickoff is 11 a.m. CT.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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