Did Dillon Gabriel consider Ohio State in the transfer portal? What to know

Oregon football and Dan Lanning solidified themselves as national champion contenders last offseason when Dillon Gabriel announced his move to the Ducks.

The Hawaii native, who played at Oklahoma the past two seasons, was not only one of the most veteran quarterbacks in the transfer portal, but also one of the top-ranked quarterbacks by 247Sports. Through six weeks of the season, Gabriel came into sole possession of third place in all-time passing touchdowns in college football history after two touchdowns in Week 6 against Michigan State.

Lanning and the Ducks will try to rely on Gabriel’s experience this Saturday when third-seeded Oregon hosts second-seeded Ohio State at Autzen Stadium, not just for one of the Big Ten’s — and college football’s — biggest regular-season games – until now.

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But it’s also one where the quarterback leading the Buckeyes into enemy territory might be the quarterback dressed in scarlet and gray instead of green and yellow.

Here’s what you should know whether or not Gabriel considered Ohio State and why he ended up choosing Oregon, among some other information:

Did Dillon Gabriel consider transferring to Ohio State?

Yes. At Big Ten Football Media Day in Indianapolis in July, Gabriel told members of the media gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium that the Buckeyes were one of his options in the transfer portal and that he had spoken with them.

“It was good,” Gabriel said in his conversations with Ohio State. “I think with anything, throughout this process, it’s just getting information about each other. But I think the recruiting process is what it is, and I think everyone who was a quarterback in the portal was able to talk to different schools.

Why did Dillon Gabriel choose Oregon over Ohio State?

It’s a multi-layered response.

The first layer is that the 6-foot quarterback didn’t want to wait to decide where he would transfer as it was his third time going through the recruiting process as he transferred from UCF to Oklahoma ahead of the 2022 season.

“Going through my third recruitment process, I know it’s a stressful time for anyone. While there is beauty in this with new beginnings, everyone knows the stress and many things that come with it. “Gabriel said at Big Ten Football Media Day. “The faster you make a decision and feel good about it, you can be decisive and that allows you to act accordingly.”

Gabriel committed to Oregon on December 9, well before Ohio State and Will Howard faced off, as the Buckeyes wanted to see how Devin Brown performed in the Cotton Bowl game against Missouri. Howard announced his commitment to Ohio State on January 4.

The second? Well, the Ducks managed to check all the boxes for Gabriel and what he was looking for, calling it a position he “couldn’t pass up.”

“I think after I took that visit to Oregon and saw it and was at the facility and talked about things, I couldn’t let it go,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel added: “The alignment of everything I was looking for. … Whether it was that conversation with Coach (Dan) Lanning, I remember it like it was yesterday, and it wasn’t necessarily a question of if, it was just how are we going to do this. And now at this point, seven months ago, everything we talked about has come to fruition and he’s been a man of his word.

Where did Dillon Gabriel transfer from?

Gabriel transferred from Oklahoma, where he was the Sooners’ starting quarterback in each of the last two seasons.

In those two seasons at Oklahoma, Gabriel completed 66% of his passes for 6,828 yards and 55 touchdowns and was named the 2022 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and a 2023 All-Big 12 First Team selection. He spent the first three years of his college career at UCF.