When the scourge of COVID-19 suddenly spun his football world, shuttering spring practice and the University of Central Florida campus, quarterback Dillon Gabriel turned to some of the grounding constants in his life.
He returned 4,746 miles, back home to his family, his father Garrett, and their garage in Mililani Mauka.
What he painstakingly did there in the intervening months helped set the stage for the roaring start of this season Saturday, one that made the sophomore the Walter Camp National Player of the Week and American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Gabriel completed 21 of 41 passes for a career-high 417 yards and four touchdowns in leading the 13th-ranked Knights’ 49-21 blasting of Georgia Tech, much of it on the fly after the Yellowjackets presented some looks UCF hadn’t been expecting.
“From the first snap (and) on, he had his eyes in the right place, he understood his protections, we made a ton of adjustments on the sideline and he was flawless in doing all of that,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “That’s extremely hard to do. It just speaks to his growth from year one to year two in mastering our concepts against all different defenses. It’s big-time football for him.”
When coaches would check up on Dillon during the break, Heupel said, “He’s working out, (he) found a way to go through and continued to improve. … I think that’s why there’s been such tremendous growth in his understanding of all things related to playing the quarterback position this year.”
Dillon said, “I worked out a lot back home with my dad and also just lifting in my garage, where we fortunately had some weights. That was good for me also to have so much time to be nit-picky on every thing we could, every technique, every day.”
For him, the determined deep dive was welcome. Dillon said, “I love the game of football and anytime I can learn more about what I love, I’m gonna to do whatever it takes.”
In that, his father, Garrett, has been a life-long valuable resource.
As a quarterback, Garrett led Pac-Five to the 1982 Oahu Prep Bowl championship and in 1989 guided the University of Hawaii to its breakthrough 56-14 victory over Brigham Young after 10 consecutive losses. The following year, he bested Ty Detmer on the day the Cougar won the Heisman Trophy.
“My dad obviously is a guy who I looked up to my whole life.” Dillon said. “I love my dad and being able to have him as a mentor and, likewise him being my father, it is something I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
After three months in Mililani, Dillon said, “I came back (to campus) to just fine-tune things, learning from coach (Joey Halze, who oversees quarterbacks) and then continuing on until in camp.”
As he continues to expand his touch on UCF football, which he has pointedly doubled down on declaring to be the “best team in Florida,” Dillon was asked if he’s given any thought to what kind of a legacy he would eventually like to leave when his playing days with the Knights end.
“Just be known for (being) a good person, a loving person, a caring person,” Dillon said. “That’s the way my parents raised me. Also being a gentle person. That’s all I truly care about.”
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
