Nick Saban Compares Oregon Ducks' Dillon Gabriel to Former Alabama Quarterback

Breaking down what ESPN's College GameDay covered regarding the Oregon Ducks ahead of their afternoon clash vs. the Illinois Fighting Illini. The whole crew, including Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, and Pat McAfee picked Oregon to win. Saban compared Oregon quarterback Gabriel to former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Former Alabama Football Coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban on the set of ESPN's College Game Day, at the University of Texas on the South Mall, ahead of the Longhorns' game against the Georgia Bulldogs in Austin, Oct. 19, 2024. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Another week, another episode of ESPN’s College Football Gameday. There’s a lot to get excited about this week for fans of the No. 1 Oregon Ducks: not only are the Ducks ranked number one in the country for the first time since 2012, they’re also hosting their third ranked team of the season at home with the No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini. With all this in mind, there was a lot for the Gameday team to cover in terms of that team out west.

This week, the Gameday crew traveled for the first time to Bloomington, Indiana for the Indiana Hoosiers game against the Washington Huskies, Oregon’s bitter rival.

The Ducks were brought up by the Gameday crew when mentioning the marquee games of the week around the nine minute mark.

Fans cheer during ESPN’s “College GameDay” Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I tell you what, the Ducks, man, have a lot of playmakers on offense like this young man right here Tez Johnson number fifteen. And don’t forget, Dillon Gabriel - he can use his legs. He does it often, but when he does it hurts defenses. Illinois has struggled in the passing game, I mean the pass defense but if they can hold it from the back end guys, they have guys up front that will get home and make Gabriel’s day long,” said Gameday analyst Desmond Howard when describing the matchup.

During the thirty five minute mark of the show, the crew addresses the frequent shifts with the number one ranking this season. Georgia holding the mantle, then Texas, then Alabama, then Texas again, and now Oregon.

“One of the big reasons Oregon is at that top spot is the play of Dillon Gabriel on his third team leads the nation in completion percentage but there’s much more to it,” analyst Rece Davis said before tossing to Nick Saban’s “Film Room” segment.

“By the end of the day today, Dillon Gabriel will almost certainly be second on the all time career passing yardage list, college football history. Might be second on the all-time touchdown pass list,” Davis also said.

“I think the first thing is the guy has lots of experience. He’s got lots of poise. He’s very instinctive at reading coverages, gets the ball out of his hand quickly and he’s very accurate,” Saban said about Gabriel.

Saban broke down several passing plays of Gabriel, focused on his accurate reads of opposing defenses and ability to target correct open receivers.

“The big thing is: you make an accurate, easy to catch ball, a guy can catch it and run with it which you can see in every one of these circumstances. Oregon’s receivers can do that,” Saban said.

Saban also highlighted Gabriel’s ability to pick up the ground game when options are limited. According to Saban, Gabriel has a well rounded display of abilities on the field.

“This guy is a complete player. He’s got a lot of grit. He reminds me of another Hawaiian quarterback we [Alabama] had, Tua [Tagovailoa] and I think he’s going to be an outstanding pro player,” Saban said.

Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide former football coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban on the set of ESPN's College Game Day at the University of Texas on the South Mall, before a game between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. / Sara Diggins/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

“I think you have a type,” Davis joked.

“I like that type,” Saban said. “Left handed. Hawaiian. Yeah, works out.”

It seems like Oregon is on the mind of several folks right now, including Harry the Husky. The mascot for Washington held up a sign with the Oregon Duck after his fall on the field at Purdue where the mascot lost his head. The sign reads “@ The Oregon Duck R U OK?” Washington is currently 4-3 and unranked during their first season with the Big Ten Conference.

Moving back to the talk about ball, Saban listed that the most reliable quarterbacks in the nation right now are Gabriel, Cam Ward of Miami, and Drew Allar of Penn State. Howard pointed out Gabriel’s three interceptions thrown earlier in the season, but says he thinks Gabriel has finally found his sweet spot in the Oregon offense.

“Even though he’s a dual threat quarterback, he doesn’t run unless he absolutely has to, which I respect,” Howard said of Gabriel.

The next time Oregon was mentioned was around the hour and twenty four minute mark. Saban and Kirk Herbstreit were discussing advantage throws (RPO’s) by using the Oregon and Purdue game. In the plays they show, Oregon is able to utilize what looks like a run play with the offensive line to set Gabriel up for a perimeter pass (short pass) or a run depending on how he reads the offense.

Finally, Oregon is mentioned at the end of the three hour show during the iconic game picks. The guest picker for this week is MLB star Kyle Schwarber. As the panel revealed their picks for Oregon vs. Illinois, one thing became clear: the Ducks were the favorite.

“Oregon, no doubt. They’re the number one team to me right now,” Saban said.

Every analyst and Schwarber picked the Ducks to win against the Fighting Illini.

We’ll see if the analysts for Gameday are right as Oregon kicks off against Illinois in Autzen Stadium at 12:30pm PST.

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