The 23-year-old Big Ten prodigy is catching Nick Saban's eye as a potential successor to Tua Tagovailoa

Every week fans wait for their favorite teams to compete against each other. Another thing that fans are patiently waiting for is ESPN Game Day! Last year it was a huge success, but this year the show offers a taste of it Nick Saban, which makes it even more exciting. The Indiana Hoosiers are on cloud nine right now, with College GameDay making their appearance for the first time in program history. The sensation of the game day: Nick Saban is back with his ability to make waves. This time, his sharp mind noticed a resemblance to the Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and one of his former star quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa.

“I think the first thing is that the guy has a lot of experience. He has a lot of balance. He is very instinctive when reading coverage and gets the ball out of his hands quickly. And he’s very accurate,” Nick Saban said while praising Dillon Gabriel. “This guy is a complete player. He has a lot of guts. He reminds me of another Hawaiian quarterback we had, Tua (Tagovailoa). And I think he will be an outstanding professional player. I like this guy – left-handed, Hawaiian. Yes, it works.”

Saban praised the sixth-grader, who led the Ducks with an unbeatable 7-0 record in seven games played. Furthermore, he contributed to his team by throwing for 2080 yards and 15 touchdowns. Do you know his Heisman chances? Well, he ranks second among QBs in the Heisman race, falling behind Miami quarterback Cam Ward.

When Saban also praised Gabriel, one of his co-stars, on College GameDay, Desmond Howard also agreed with him“I like Dillon Gabriel.” Also, it's interesting to note that even though the CGD crew was in Indiana, they kept talking about the Oregon Ducks! Why not? At least the Ducks are ahead. 1st place in the country currently. What about their game today?

Dillon Gabriel and his friends in the game against Illinois

The current AP Poll leader, the Ducks, are one of the ten remaining teams that currently hold an undefeated title in the nation. That means Oregon comes into this game off the back of a blowout .350 win over Purdue last weekend. The team they will face today, Illinois, is coming off a 21-7 victory over then-number one ranked team. 24th ranked Michigan.

As they say, this season is all about underdogs achieving big and big programs falling short. Illinois will play a ranked team for the first time in years. In 2007, they had won a game against Ohio State. But with Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel on the other side, it would be a tough nut to crack for Illinois.

Dillon Gabriel is currently the best QB in the country with a 77.0% completion rate. He averaged 297.2 yards per game and had 15 touchdowns and four rushing scores. Despite all of this, Dillon Gabriel's chances of winning the Heisman this year are also quite high. Today's win over Illinois will further solidify its chances and Oregon's unbeatable status for another week.