Scott Satterfield on the Sooner offense
“The Big 12 is putting us with one of the better teams in the conference in week 1, with Oklahoma. Oklahoma is as hot of a team as anyone out there right now. We know we have a huge challenge ahead of us come Saturday but it’s a challenge we welcome. Oklahoma has a great offense, they average 55 points per game, which is 5th in the nation. Dylan Gabriel is a really good quarterback who throws a great deep ball. They can really stress you defensively, horizontally and vertically to keep the pressure on the defense, they play extremely fast. There is zero hesitation in them snapping the football, we have to get lined up quickly, ready to go with what formations they will show you. They are very good at what they do schematically and will certainly be a huge challenge for our defense.”
The Sooners offense is led by senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel is currently completing 82.5% of his passes to start the season, which is the highest completion percentage in all of college football. Gabriel has thrown for 905 yards and 11 touchdowns, while throwing just one interception on the season.
However, for the Bearcats, they have seen Gabriel quite a few times from his time at UCF, in matter of fact, the last time Gabriel played at Nippert Stadium in 2019 the world was introduced to Sauce Gardner in the famous Pick 6. Gabriel didn’t play in the Knights matchup in 2021 at Nippert Stadium due to a shoulder injury he suffered vs Satterfield and Louisville on the final play of the game in a Hail Mary attempt. “He’s a great quarterback, he has a strong arm, and we have seen that. He is a very smart quarterback, loves to go through his progressions but isn’t scared to beat you with his legs either. We can’t sleep on him, he’s a pro and thinks like a pro,” said safety Taj Ward.
“When you are playing a good quarterback, which Gabriel is, I think he is very accurate. He understands what they are trying to do within their offense. If Gabriel has guys open, he is going to hit them, he isn’t going to miss many throws. said Satterfield. “I think that’s the thing that makes him a great quarterback, he isn’t a tall quarterback, but they do enough things to hinder the rush, so he has a little more time in the pocket. He is completing 82.5% of his passes, that’s incredible. They are playing as good as they can on offense with 55 points per game, they’re doing a lot of things right, but it starts with him.”
Gabriel and the Sooners offense loves to push the tempo, and we have seen that in recent years dating all the way back to Gabreil’s time at UCF. “Last time I have seen an offense play at that tempo was when Dillon Gabriel was at UCF,” said safety Taj Ward. “It was a really fast offense, that temp can mess with your mind a little bit when it gets tiring.”
The Bearcats will have to keep an eye on WR Nic Anderson whose coming off an incredible performance vs Tulsa where he picked up Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, after hauling in three receptions for 120 yards and three touchdowns in the Sooner’s 66-17 victory over Tulsa.
The Bearcats will also have to keep an eye on tight end Austin Stogner, who’s a huge target for Gabriel, standing 6’6″, 260 pounds. A big frame at that tight end position that is used as an extra lineman at times which has been his duties for the most part throughout the start if the season as he has only hauled in two receptions for 13 yards. However, Stogner is coming off a season where he caught 22 balls for almost 300 yards a season ago.
