Dillon Gabriel’s climb to the top of the FBS touchdown chart was built in Orlando, and the former UCF quarterback still owes a huge chunk of that record-setting run to his time with the Knights.
Gabriel now sits alone with the most career touchdowns in college football history, and more than 40% of those scores came during his three seasons at UCF. According to an X graphic posted by College Football Zone (CollegeFBonX), the seven players with the most responsible career touchdowns are all quarterbacks, a reminder of how often that position can pile up points in different ways.
At UCF, Gabriel put together the kind of production that turns a quarterback into a program landmark. He threw 70 passing touchdowns, ran for eight more and even caught one. Along the way, he piled up 18,722 passing yards, completed 65% of his throws and added 1,209 rushing yards to show off the dual-threat game that made him one of the best quarterbacks to suit up for the Knights.
His freshman season set the tone. UCF went 10-3, beat Marshall in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl and rolled to a 48-25 win over the Thundering Herd. Gabriel was sharp in that game, throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
His run in Orlando ended in painful fashion. On the final play of UCF’s 42-35 loss to Louisville on Sept.
17, 2021, Gabriel suffered a fractured left clavicle. The injury left him out indefinitely and eventually led to his transfer announcement on social media in November 2021.
Gabriel landed at Oklahoma next and spent two seasons with the Sooners, where he added 73 more touchdowns to his college total - 55 through the air and 18 on the ground. Oklahoma went 6-7 in his first year, but Gabriel still showed plenty of arm talent, throwing for 3,168 yards while completing 62.7% of his passes. His second season was even better.
In his senior year, the Sooners improved to 10-3, and Gabriel threw for 3,660 yards with a 69.3% completion rate. His college career was supposed to be over after 2023, but a COVID-19 waiver gave him a sixth season.
That extra year took him to Oregon, where he posted the best numbers of his career. Gabriel threw for 3,857 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions, while also adding 149 rushing yards and touchdowns to his total. He became a Heisman contender in 2024 before finishing second to Travis Hunter.
Gabriel entered the 2025 NFL Draft after that college run and was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the third round, 94th overall. As a rookie, he saw starter snaps in six of the 10 games he played, throwing for 937 yards with a 59.5% completion rate, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
His most productive season may have come in Oregon’s yellow and green, but the record that defines his college career was forged first in Orlando.
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