After five years, Dillon Gabriel is finally getting the love he deserves.
Oklahoma’s veteran quarterback has played in 44 games since debuting at UCF in 2019, but none have held the importance of last week’s Red River Showdown against No. 3 Texas.
Two undefeated squads. A historic centurylong rivalry. The Big 12’s premier matchup of the season. Gabriel had never seen lights so bright.
None of it fazed him. Not only did Gabriel lead the Sooners to a dramatic 34-30 victory to remain undefeated, but he quite possibly earned himself a “Heisman moment” in the process.
Trailing by three points with just over a minute to play, Gabriel orchestrated a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to stun the Longhorns in the game’s final seconds. He even did it without any timeouts remaining. Such a showing — capping a day where he threw for 285 yards and ran for another 113 — proved a surefire way to endear himself to the millions viewing across the country.
Thanks to Gabriel, Texas is back ... to reality. His heroics shall never be forgotten.
Is Gabriel a true contender for the nation’s most prestigious hardware? Vegas believes so. The lavish lefty currently holds the fourth-best Heisman odds at 12-to-1, a significant jump from his 33-to-1 preseason mark. Pac-12 darlings Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix may stand ahead of him, but the race is far from over.
Gabriel has racked up 1,898 passing yards and 16 touchdowns already this year. He’s added another five rushing scores, is completing 72.7% of his passes and sports the third-best QBR in the country at 91.0.
His Sooners are 6-0, ranked No. 5 in the AP poll and have emerged as the heavy favorite to win the Big 12. A flattering second-half schedule awaits Oklahoma following this weekend’s bye, putting Gabriel and company in prime position to potentially run the table and crash the College Football Playoff.
Prior to the season, I considered Gabriel to be one of the sport’s most underrated talents. His numbers between UCF and Oklahoma have been mighty impressive: 131 total touchdowns to 22 picks, 13,083 passing yards, a 159.1 lifetime rating and 28-14 starting record. However, aside from statistics, Gabriel never had much else to show for his career. It always felt like there was still more he could offer or a higher level he could achieve.
We’re watching him reach those heights this year.
Gabriel can no longer fly under the radar, for the spotlight has captured him for good. He’s peaking at the perfect time. There’s no excuse for his Sooners to fall short of at least a conference title this year. Should he continue this current pace, not only will he bring a playoff berth to Norman, but he’ll cement himself amid the likes of Jason White and Baker Mayfield as an all-time program legend at quarterback.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll see Gabriel star in some of next year’s Nissan “Heisman house” commercials with his fellow trophy winners.
The boys are back in town
What year is it?
In the early 2000s, it seemed as if every BYU and TCU matchup held serious conference implications. Now, as the former Mountain West foes prepare for their first meeting in more than a decade Saturday, the stakes could be just as significant as they were back in the days of Andy Dalton and Max Hall.
As the entropy of conference realignment has eliminated far too many classic traditions around the country, it’s refreshing to see such an entertaining past series as this brought back to life on an even larger stage. Forget the bland, corporate offerings of Hollywood— this is a reboot everyone can enjoy.
Yes, the real rivalry will be back in the Big 12 starting next year with Utah joining the league, but I say the more feuds, the better for the Cougars. After welcoming the likes of UMass and Utah Tech to Provo in the Novembers of independence, BYU deserves for conference play to be as interesting as possible moving forward.
The Cougars and Horned Frogs may have only shared the Mountain West for six seasons, but that brief period still produced a colorful, bitter rivalry between the two programs. Seriously, it was a show. There were controversial finishes, thrilling upsets, seasons spoiled and even a visit from ESPN’s “College GameDay” in 2009. They constantly battled for the league crown and lived to torment each other. It was incredible entertainment.
They may have ghosted each other for the past 12 years, but fate has finally brought BYU and TCU back together again in the Big 12. The long-dormant feud should expect a rowdy wakeup call Saturday in Fort Worth. It’s a ripe situation to reignite this rivalry.
The defending national runner-up Frogs have failed to enjoy the same magic that carried them during last year’s Cinderella run, as they’re now 3-3 following two straight conference losses. With starting quarterback Chandler Morris sidelined for the next few weeks with a knee injury, TCU is running out of time to get things right. These Frogs are on serious croak watch.
The Cougars aren’t spectacular, but they can hang with pretty much anyone, especially if their run game finally emerges. Coming off a bye week, this well-rested BYU squad with extended preparation is a tough draw for the free-falling Frogs. Coach Kalani Sitake couldn’t ask for better timing.
Falling to the Cougars Saturday would essentially drop TCU out of the Big 12 title race. A Frogs win would most likely put BYU out of the picture as well. Neither team should be expected to play at Jerry World in December, but no one wants to be eliminated from the running this early. It’s time to spoil to survive.
There’s no better way to revive this rivalry than by cranking up the stakes like this. How could you not hate the team that killed your postseason aspirations? That will clearly be the case for whoever sputters between the Cougars and Frogs. Let’s all hope whatever happens Saturday can spark years of compelling combat for these two schools. The conference of chaos needs all the commotion it can get.
Separate ways
The Big 12 standings are a claustrophobic mess right now. After this weekend, we should all have more clarity regarding who the league’s contenders and pretenders truly are.
Aside from juggernaut Oklahoma and team of destiny West Virginia at the top — and the three winless non-BYU expansion schools at the bottom — there’s no stable ground. The middle of the pack is cluttered by four teams sitting at an encouraging 2-1 in conference play, three hanging on for dear life at 1-1 and two praying for a miracle at 1-2. Everybody wants some!
While there are still seven weeks left in the regular season, anyone who falls to 1-2 or below this weekend won’t have any chance of playing in the Big 12 title game. Of the 10 teams playing Saturday, four could potentially be voted off the island.
Kansas State won the conference a year ago, but losing to Texas Tech would end any hope for a repeat performance. The loser of BYU-TCU would be cooked, as well as Oklahoma State should the Cowboys succumb to Kansas.
On the flip side, attractive preseason picks Texas Tech and Kansas could end the weekend at 3-1, along with a sneaky Iowa State squad that’s starting to make some noise. Winning at Houston would put West Virginia at 3-0, further paving the storybook road ahead for the scruffy, rough-riding Mountaineers to storm into Dallas. Ya gotta believe!
My apologies to Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, but you’re already out of luck. The Power Five jump is much tougher than BYU has made it seem, as you all have clearly demonstrated. But hey, maybe one of you can actually get your first league win this week.
Personally, I believe a championship game between Oklahoma and West Virginia would be pure cinema, but perhaps there’s a more chaotic option to better fit this conference’s brand. Last week’s Red River Showdown was a blast, but let’s refrain from having a rematch in December. The Big 12 has too many fun and frisky contenders to settle for anything less than mayhem.
Jackson Payne is the sports editor for BYU’s Daily Universe and a Deseret News contributor. Follow him on Twitter @jackson5payne.