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Dan Lanning reacts to historic day from Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel

Mark Kern

By Mark Kern

Published:

Dan Lanning and his Oregon Ducks are starting to play a brand of football that fans across the country envisioned earlier in the season, and a big reason for that is because of the play of star quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

In the Ducks’ 38-9 win over No. 20 Illinois on Saturday,  Gabriel threw for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the season, he has thrown for 2,080 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.

Not only did Gabriel lead the Ducks to the win, he also moved up the rankings when it comes to the greatest passers in NCAA history. During the game, he took sole possession of second place on the all-time NCAA career leaderboard for passing yards and passing touchdowns.

Gabriel now has 17,236 career passing yards and 143 career touchdowns. He passed former Hawaii passer Timmy Chang on the yardage list and former Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore in touchdowns. He now sits behind only Houston quarterback Case Keenum in both statistics.

After the game, Lanning talked about his star quarterback’s performance.

“I think he did a really good job of managing the pictures he was getting throughout the day, excluding 1 play,” Lanning said.  “I know he’d want that play back. Overall, Dillon’s done what he’s been able to do all year for us — be really consistent and execute.”

With his recent performances, Gabriel is strengthening his case for the Heisman Trophy as well. As long as the Ducks and Gabriel keep playing at a high level, he could be well on his way to earning an invite to New York City.

Mark Kern