By the time JT Daniels took his first snap for Georgia on Nov. 21, two other SEC quarterbacks, Florida’s Kyle Trask and Alabama’s Mac Jones, were viewed among the Heisman Trophy frontrunners.
Daniels has created plenty of buzz on his own since then.
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It’s a relatively small sample size, but Daniels’ 187.87 passing efficiency rating in his three games as starter, would rank fifth nationally in the NCAA stats which requires playing in 75 percent of a team’s game.
That would put Daniels one spot ahead of Trask and ahead of former Georgia and now Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence who currently rank 10th and 11th.
“I still don't think he's unleashed all he can do,” said Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell who is preparing his team to play Georgia Friday in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. “When you run the ball, you got as good an offensive line as they have, you don't have to kind of sit your quarterback back there and do all those different things. I can see where they're probably slow in the maturation, and say, ‘Hey, just don't get him everything. We might get away from some of the things we do really well just because he throws it so well, has such a touch,’ you don't want to lose the nastiness and toughness that those guys up front bring.”
What kind of impact has Daniels made?
Georgia’ scoring average rose from 29 to 41.7 points per game since Daniels took over and its total yards jumped from 382.8 to 498.3. The Bulldogs passing yards grew from 209.3 to 279.7 a game and rushing output from 173.5 to 218.6. Third down conversion percentage zoomed from 42 to 67.
Daniels has completed 66.7 percent of his passes against a schedule of Mississippi State, South Carolina and Missouri, teams that combined to go 10-20. The Bulldogs had a 52.4 completion percentage in the first six games with Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis with a tougher slate.
“I do feel like we've been really hot as of lately,” Daniels said. “There's a lot of guys that have gotten a lot better. I think you're seeing what that's looking like now. Obviously a little later than we would have hoped. I'd love to play with this team forever. It's an amazing team.”
Starting guard Ben Cleveland and tight end Tre’ McKitty opted out of the bowl game and draft-eligible left tackle Jamaree Salyer and running back Zamir White were noncommittal about their plans beyond this season in interviews on Tuesday.
Daniels also was asked if he planned to be back in 2021.
The Southern California transfer is on the radar of talent evaluators on the next level.
One NFL mock draft by CBSSports.com’s Chris Trapasso pegged Daniels as the No. 17 overall pick.
And that’s with the redshirt sophomore playing only three college games since he sustained a torn ACL in the 2019 opener at USC.
“When his opportunity came, he took advantage of it,” Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken said.
Monken was on the same bowl zoom session Tuesday morning as Daniels.
It was Monken’s first time speaking to reporters since the preseason and since coaches were second guessed for not playing Daniels earlier after Stetson Bennett struggled in the second half of the loss at Alabama. Daniels remained on the sideline when Bennett and D’Wan Mathis were inefficient in the loss against Florida.
Monken did say that the former five-star’s rehab was set back by the pandemic and he requested to work with the scout team while his mobility improved.
“Obviously there's a number of things, I'll be 55 in February, that I will look back on and think I would have done, should have, could have, would have maybe done differently,” Monken said.”There's no sense in looking back on that. The moment JT played and prepared, it was time to move forward. I think he's done a great job not only for his opportunity but then since then.”
This will be Daniels first time playing in a bowl game.
The Trojans missed out on a bowl in 2018 when he started as a freshman during a 5-7 season.
He was sidelined last year due to his knee injury for the Trojans loss to Iowa in the Holiday Bowl.
“JT brings a different dynamic to their offense,” Cincinnati fourth-year defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman said. “He's got a very strong arm, probably the strongest arm probably in my time being the defensive coordinator here that we've faced. We know it will be a huge challenge.”
Cincinnati faced Fields and Ohio State in week two of the 2019 season in a 42-0 loss in which Fields threw for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“Being able to go back and not only watch him these past three games, but even watch some USC film, you just see it, he's a dynamic quarterback with an extremely strong arm that understands defense,” Freeman said.
Daniels has 9 touchdown passes to 1 interception. The top two passing outputs for Georgia came this season with him starting with 401 yards against Mississippi State and 299 against Missouri.
“Excited that we have a quarterback back there that's throwing it and commanding the offense,” Salyer said.
Daniels, an Irvine, Calif, native, landed in an SEC program across the country without ever having stepped foot on campus.
He said his parents met coach Kirby Smart before he did.
“Location didn't mean anything to me,” he said. “It was the best situation, best team, best staff. I found all three of those in one school. Did not matter to me where it was.”
Georgia and its offense have found stability with Daniels, something fans can only hope will continue into the 2021 season.
“When you watch games, you see a rhythm, more consistency, knowing what he can do, as they continue to grow,” Fickell said. “You're curious to see with 12 days the next step, what will they give him to do to make that offense even more dynamic. You can tell, he's a future to what they're doing.”
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