The Oregon football program entered Saturday’s matchup with Maryland ranked the No. 1 team in the country. Dillon Gabriel has spearheaded the Ducks’ offensive attack all year, and the NCAA record he broke on Saturday shows his tremendous impact.
Midway through the third quarter, Gabriel took an offensive snap and threw a touchdown pass to give Oregon a 27-10 lead over Maryland. He threw his 179th TD, which was an NCAA record, as seen on an X (formerly Twitter) video provided by Fox College Football:
Dillon Gabriel has had an amazing college football career so far, and he wants to further capitalize on his success with Oregon. With five and a half minutes left in Saturday’s game, Gabriel amassed 166 yards and two TDs.
Before the game, ClutchPoints’ Scotty White made three bold predictions for Gabriel, the most notable being that he would end the game with over 300 yards.
“There is nothing that we have seen from these two teams this season that suggests that Maryland has any chance of slowing down Dillon Gabriel and the Oregon football team. The Ducks are going to be able to move the ball in every which way, so if they choose to do it on the ground, maybe Gabriel will come up short of 300. Either way, it’ll be an easy day for the Ducks,” White wrote.
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Gabriel came up short of that goal, but he and his team proved themselves by putting forth a commanding performance against the Terrapins.
Oregon has their eyes set on a national championship, and they have the tools to get it done. They still have more Big 10 battles to go through before getting to that point. However, if the Ducks continue to lock in and execute, they can go far.
Oregon will take on another interconference matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 16.
Christopher Smith is a sports journalist who primarily covers the Chicago Sky, NBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native received his education from Creighton University, and he has bylines at Last Word on Sports and FanSided.