OU football coach Brent Venables hasn't 'talked about' potential Dillon Gabriel return
NORMAN — Dillon Gabriel is playing the best football of his career.
The OU redshirt senior quarterback has thrown for 3,069 yards and 25 touchdowns so far this season. He has run for a career-high 337 yards and 11 touchdowns. He boasts a career-high quarterback rating of 172.1.
Gabriel has been a driving force for OU, which finds itself firmly in the Big 12 Championship race as it prepares for a road game against BYU at 11 a.m. Saturday. But despite having one more year of eligibility, using the COVID year granted by the NCAA, talks of a return to the Sooners next season haven't began.
"We haven’t had those conversations," head coach Brent Venables said on Tuesday. "He’s played a lot of college football. He’s overcome a lot of injuries and ailments. We haven’t talked about that, though."
Gabriel spent the first three years of his college career at UCF. But in Week 3 of the 2021 season, he suffered a fractured clavicle that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
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Gabriel then transferred to OU, where he immediately became the team's starting quarterback. He threw for 3,168 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.
Gabriel opted to return to OU this season, and he's hitting his stride. He racked up eight total touchdowns in a 59-20 home win over West Virginia last week, which is the most by any player in program history.
Gabriel also moved up to 10th in career NCAA passing yards (14,274) in the process.
"I think a year ago, maybe, the talk was he had a good year," Venables said. "Why would you want to come back when you could come back and have a bad year? But what’s he done? He’s come back and had an even better year."
OU's quarterback situation is a unique one.
The Sooners can win with Gabriel at the helm, as we've seen this season. He has become a dual threat, and his veteran leadership would be invaluable next season as OU makes the move to the SEC.
But Gabriel's return would delay the start of the Jackson Arnold era in Norman. The five-star freshman was rated by 247Sports as the fourth-best quarterback in the 2023 class, and he's viewed by many as the future face of the program.
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The expectation was that Arnold would step into a starting role next season following the departure of Gabriel.
"There's no doubt that Dillon is our undisputed quarterback for all the reasons that y'all know," Venables said during an interview on Aug. 29. "But we know that Dillon won't be here next year, so we've got to prepare for that day as well. Like all decisions, you've got to have a plan for that. And we do."
Of course, plans can change over time. Gabriel is playing at a high level, and it's not hard to see why he'd want to return next season as opposed to trying his luck in a 2024 NFL Draft that'll be stacked at quarterback.
But Gabriel hasn't commented recently on the possibility of returning. And as far as Venables is concerned, he hasn't heard any rumblings.
"He’s played a long time, been through a lot," Venables said. "I don’t know."
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football's Brent Venables addresses potential Dillon Gabriel return
