When Dillon Gabriel transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma for the 2024 season, he brought with him impeccable credentials and a history of success.
He also had big shoes to fill with departing senior and Heisman Trophy finalist Bo Nix posting the greatest statistical season in program history in 2023.
The southpaw from Hawaii was undaunted by the challenge.
Gabriel’s 3,857 yards passing are the third-most single-season total in Oregon history. His 72.9% completion percentage is the second-best single-season mark by a Duck. He finished with 30 passing touchdowns and seven rushing scores and also started his 63rd collegiate game at quarterback to break the FBS record previously held by Nix.
When his college career came to an end in Pasadena on Jan. 1, Gabriel finished with an FBS record 189 career touchdowns and an FBS record-tying 155 career passing touchdowns. Gabriel’s 18,722 career passing yards and 19,931 total yards are both No. 2 all-time behind former Houston star Case Keenum.
But where does Gabriel’s cameo career at Oregon rank him among the Ducks‘ all-time great quarterbacks? Let’s take a look at some of the best to ever do it in an Oregon uniform.
The Heisman Trophy finalists
Marcus Mariota
Ten years after his playing career with the Ducks ended, Mariota remains the standard bearer for all Oregon quarterbacks. The 2014 Heisman winner went 36-5 in his three seasons, including wins in the Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl, with the latter victory getting the Ducks into the 2014 national championship game. As the starter between 2012-14, Mariota set the program career records for wins, touchdown passes (105), passing yards (10,796), QB rushing yards (2,237) and QB rushing TDs (29).
Bo Nix
Speaking of standards, no Oregon quarterback has had a two-year run like the 2022 transfer from Auburn. Nix, who finished third in the 2023 Heisman race, put together the single-greatest statistical season in program history that fall when he set program records for passing yards (4,508), passing TDs (45), completions (364) and completion percentage (77.4%) – which is also an NCAA record. The Ducks went 22-5 with Nix running the offense, including two bowl wins.
Joey Harrington
In this day and age of NIL collectives, the idea of a seeing a player’s image on a billboard feels quaint. In 2001, however, when Joey Harrington’s senior season and Heisman campaign began with a billboard featuring the QB in midtown Manhattan, the college football world took notice. Harrington, always cool under pressure, took it all in stride and led the Ducks to an 11-1 record and a win in the Fiesta Bowl. It was Oregon’s first 11-win season and came a year after Harrington guided the Ducks to their first 10-win season. Harrington, who finished fourth in the 2001 Heisman voting, was 25-3 overall as a starter and finished his career with 6,911 passing yards and 59 TDs.
Rose Bowl memory-makers
Justin Herbert
The local kid became a legend with a standout career that ended with a victory in Pasadena against Wisconsin during the 2019 season. The Eugene native ran for three TDs in that 28-27 win in what was his program-record 42nd start in a career that went from 2016-19. His 29 wins are No. 2 all-time, as are his 95 passing TDs and 10,541 passing yards. His 827 completions and 1,293 attempts are both program records.
Darron Thomas
Thomas is remembered for being the leader of Chip Kelly’s blur offense that took the Ducks to the national championship game in the 2010 season and a Rose Bowl victory at the end of the 2011 season. Thomas was 23-3 as a starter and when his career ended he had thrown a then-school record 66 touchdown passes. In the Rose Bowl win against Russell Wilson’s Badgers, Thomas threw for 268 yards and three TDs. A year earlier in the 22-19 national championship loss to Cam Newton’s Auburn Tigers, Thomas threw for 363 yards and two scores.
Danny O’Neil
With O’Neil at the helm, the Ducks returned to the Rose Bowl after the 1994 regular season for the first time in 37 years. Oregon lost the game to Penn State, but O’Neil had a record performance in his final game, completing 41 of 61 passes for 456 yards – all Rose Bowl records at the time. O’Neil went 22-17 as a starter and when his career ended, he was the program record-holder in TD passes (62), pass attempts (1,132), completions (636) and 300-yard passing games (nine). He remains fourth all-time in passing yards (8,301).
The Oregon football legacy builders
Bill Musgrave
When it comes to Musgrave’s place in Oregon history, those who know, know. From 1894 to 1988, the Ducks appeared in six bowl games. Then Musgrave and his gun-slinging ways uncorked the Ducks’ potential as he led them to a 27-24 win against Tulsa in the 1989 Independence Bowl. Oregon has played in 31 bowl games in the ensuing 35 seasons. Until being passed by Mariota in 2014, he was the Ducks’ all-time leading passer with 8,343 yards and 60 touchdowns.
Dan Fouts
Before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, Fouts (1970-72) started for the Ducks and threw for 5,995 yards with 37 touchdown passes and 54 interceptions.
Norm Van Brocklin
Another Pro Football Hall of Famer, “The Dutchman” had a 16-5 record as Oregon’s starter in 1947 and 1948 then went on to a long career as a player and coach in the NFL. He led Oregon to the 1949 Cotton Bowl, the first postseason game for the Ducks in 29 years.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Where Dillon Gabriel ranks among top QBs in Oregon football history
