Oklahoma enters a new era at both head coach and the quarterback position, as year one of the Brent Venables era likely features UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel at the position. Gabriel took command of the offense, completing 19 of 28 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown.
“Again, been really pleased from beginning to end with Dillon and where he is,” Venables said after the game. “And he’s probably his own worst critic, and Coach [Jeff] Lebby probably would be, too. But I’m looking at just the entire body and his leadership and his consistency, and he’s done a great job all spring. I feel great about him.
And we’re still developing behind him. We don’t have quote-unquote answers right now. The portal was a definite option for us. And so we want to get, if we go that route, you find somebody that’s the right fit, right age. There’s just a lot that goes into that. Not that I need to get into all those weeds, but that is a definite concern for us. No question about it.”
Oklahoma drew 75,360 people for the game, and seeing Gabriel perform strong was one of the biggest takeaways.“Absolutely. You know, you can’t hide the fact when they walked in that stadium, those guys are looking around and you can hear the chirping,” Venables said about Gabriel’s performance being a nice bonus for the fans.
