NEW YORK — After leading the Oregon football team to the first 13-0 start in program history, the Big Ten Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, quarterback Dillon Gabriel was officially announced on Monday as a finalist for the 2024 Heisman Memorial Trophy.
Gabriel is one of four finalists for college football’s most prestigious award, which will crown its 88th winner this Saturday, Dec. 14 in New York City. Oregon’s quarterback is joined by Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Miami quarterback Cam Ward.
Gabriel becomes the fifth Heisman Trophy finalist in program history, and second in a row after quarterback Bo Nix finished third in the voting in 2023. Joey Harrington was the program’s first-ever finalist in 2001, LaMichael James was a finalist in 2010, and Marcus Mariota became the first Duck ever to win the Heisman Trophy in 2014.
Gabriel will be in Las Vegas on Tuesday as a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the nation’s most prestigious scholar-athlete award, before heading to New York for the Heisman Trophy festivities. The winner of the 2024 Heisman Memorial Trophy will be announced live on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN.
A sixth-year senior, Gabriel has been stellar for the Ducks while leading Oregon to a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and a berth in the Rose Bowl Game. Gabriel ranks second nationally in completion percentage (73.2) while also sitting in the top 15 in the country for completions (5th, 297), passer rating (7th, 166.57), total touchdowns (T-7th, 35), passing touchdowns (T-8th, 28), passing yards per game (10th, 273.7) and total yards per game (13th, 288.5).
The 2024 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Gabriel led Oregon to the Big Ten title in its first year in the league with a season-high four touchdown passes against No. 3 Penn State in the conference title game last week. He has thrown multiple touchdown passes in 11 of 13 games, including four games with three-plus TD tosses.
Gabriel has made college football history in 2024, breaking the NCAA all-time record for total touchdowns with 187 in his career. His 153 career passing touchdowns are just two back of Case Keenum’s all-time record of 155, and he also ranks second all-time in career passing yards (18,423) and total yards (19,675). Gabriel’s start in the Big Ten Championship Game was also the 62nd of his career, passing Nix for the FBS record for starts by a quarterback.
Gabriel has re-written the Oregon record books in 2024, posting four of the top 11 single-game performances for completion percentage, including an 85.7 (18-of-21) mark in Week 2 against Boise State that ranked second all-time. Gabriel completed a career-high 41 passes in his Oregon debut against Idaho, tied for the most in UO single-game history and tied for the most by any FBS quarterback in a game this season.
Gabriel and the Ducks will play next in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential on New Year’s Day in Pasadena (2 p.m. PT), against the winner of No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Tennessee.
