Ducks Continue to Fly With Gabriel as a Heisman Finalist

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Oregon's first year in the Big Ten Conference went better than anyone could have expected. The Ducks finished the season with a perfect 13-0 record overall and 9-0 in B1G play, and capped it off with a win over No. 6 Penn State (11-2, 8-1) 45-37 for the Big Ten Championship in their inaugural season. Oregon is the only remaining undefeated team in FBS with wins over three College Football Playoff participants. Less than 24 hours after winning the B1G championship Oregon was handed the No. 1 overall seed in the first 12-team playoff. On Dec. 9 the Ducks got more good news when quarterback Dillon Gabriel was named a finalist for this year's Heisman Trophy.

The Heisman Trophy has been given out since 1935 and goes to the country's best player each year. More than 900 people vote on the award made up of media members and past Heisman winners. Gabriel is only the fourth Duck player selected as a finalist for the Heisman—the other three are Joey Harrington (2001), LaMicheal James (2010) and Marcus Mariota (2014). Mariota is the only Duck to have won the award.

Long Trip to Oregon

This is Gabriel's sixth season playing college football but his first with Oregon after transferring from Oklahoma in the offseason. Gabriel started his collegiate career at UCF in 2019 and played three seasons with the Knights. In 2022 Gabriel left Florida and headed to Oklahoma where he stayed for two seasons before heading to Eugene, Ore. This season Gabriel led his team to victories over three CFP teams in No. 3 Boise State (12-1, 7-0 Mountain West Conference), No. 8 Ohio State (102, 7-2) and Penn State. Now Gabriel is heading to New York to see if it's going to be his name called.

The Numbers

When the lights were the brightest this season Gabriel played his best, and he saved his best performance for the final game of the B1G season. On Dec. 7 the country watched Gabriel lead the Ducks to a 45-37  win over Penn State. Gabriel was 22-of-32 for 283 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win against the Nittany Lions.

Gabriel was his best in the Ducks' biggest games of the 2024 season. In Week 2 against Boise State he completed 18-for-21 of his passes for 243 yards and 2 TDs.  Then in one of the most anticipated games of the season, the Ducks squeaked out a 32-31 victory over Ohio State. Gabriel accounted for 341 yards on 22-of-34 passing and 2 TDs.

On the season Gabriel completed 297 passes for 3,558 yards and 28 TDs and only threw 6 interceptions. Gabriel finished No. 8 in passing yards, No. 3 in completion percentage and No. 8 in passing TDs.

The Finalist, the Front Runner

Gabriel is joined by Colorado defensive back/wide receiver Travis Hunter, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Miami Quarterback Cam Ward. This year's ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. EST on Dec. 14 in New York and can be seen on ESPN. The Heisman Trophy has been given out since 1935 to the nation's top player.

Hunter is the front-runner after an extraordinary season playing on both sides of the ball. This season Hunter totaled 1,152 yards on 92 receptions and 14 touchdowns. DraftKings has Hunter as the favorite to take home the award at -2000, while Jeanty is second at +800 followed by Gabriel at +35000 and Ward at +50000.