When Oregon announced it was joining the Big Ten, many wondered if it could adapt to the conference. The Big Ten is known for its ground-and-pound play style and great defense. Most schools play the same style, including Michigan, which won the national championship last year. Ohio State is slightly different from most Big Ten teams in how it plays. It is more like an NFL offense throwing the ball around because it has the skill position players to do it.
Oregon relates very well to Ohio State and likes to play the same style, but they could have a significant upgrade that the Buckeyes don’t, and that would be quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who could be the best in college football this season.
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel Is A Star
Gabriel will be heading into his sixth season as a starter and his first with Oregon. He played at UCF for three years and then headed to Oklahoma in 2022 and 2023. Gabriel put the Sooners on his back, and even though they didn’t make the college football playoffs with him, he did an excellent job there and even beat Texas last season, which was their only regular-season loss.
Now, Gabriel will get a chance to shine in his first season in the Big Ten, and the conference media days started on Monday. A poll came out from Cleveland.com that had Gabriel winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
NEW: Preseason Big Ten Media Awards via @clevelanddotcom🏆
COY: Dan Lanning🦆
OPOY: Dillon Gabriel🦆
DPOY: Will Johnson〽️https://t.co/rgaNpJoiUj pic.twitter.com/zqWX6FiyR8— On3 (@On3sports) July 22, 2024
Gabriel Should Be The Favorite To Win Big Ten Offensive Player Of The Year
Usually, a quarterback brings home the conference offensive player of the year, and Gabriel should be the frontrunner. Penn State has a great quarterback, Drew Allar, and Ohio State has Will Howard. Still, Gabriel is far better than both and has an incredible amount of weapons around him, more than Allar has at Penn State and maybe even more than what Howard has at Ohio State.
The Ducks quarterback wasn’t the only Oregon member to be predicted to bring home an award this fall, and head coach Dan Lanning was also chosen to take home Big Ten Coach of the Year in the Cleveland.com media poll.
Oregon will not be messing around in their first season in the Big Ten, and there is a chance they will come in and win a good number of awards and even the conference title.
