ATHENS, Ga. -- JT Daniels is going to be Georgia's starting quarterback going forward. Kirby Smart all but confirmed that when he spoke with reporters after the Bulldogs 31-24 win over Mississippi State. The UGA faithful won't soon forget that debut.
Daniels completed 28 of 38 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns. The visiting Bulldogs sold out to stop Georgia's run game, daring Daniels to beat them and he did. Despite penalties, drops, and a shaky start of his own, Daniels continued to make plays.
So that begs the question "why now?" The quarterback position has been a weak point for the Bulldogs for the past few games, especially in losses to Alabama and Florida. Smart says he and his coaching staff noticed Stetson Bennett's struggles starting in the second half of the Alabama game. They knew they had to figure something else out when that "downhill" trend continued against Kentucky and Florida. But through it all, Smart contends that an experienced coaching staff did everything they thought gave the Bulldogs a chance to win.
“Absolutely I would," Smart said when asked if he could understand why someone would ask why Daniels hasn't played before tonight. "But I also think people need to take into consideration that I’ve been coaching football for I don’t know how many years, 20 or 25 years and God knows Monken has probably doubled me as old as he is. There’s not a decision that we make as coaches, as a coaching staff, as an offensive coaching staff, five guys that I adore and think the world of … maybe the question should be, man, aren’t they glad they’ve got J.T. here, when nobody thought that maybe they needed him. Would I have loved him to go out and do that same thing to other teams? Absolutely. But the decisions were made on who we felt gave us the best opportunity to win, and a lot of that had to do with mobility and Stetson’s play. As Stet struggled, we had to look for other options. He did a great job with his opportunity, he also had some help in receivers that came back and how Mississippi State played them. I don’t want to use that to demean how he played. He played unbelievable. I’m as proud as hell for the way he played. But every decision we make is who gives us the best opportunity to win the game and the men in that room who are making those decisions, they’ve got a lot of experience doing it.”
Smart says Daniels started getting a longer look during the bye week prior to the Kentucky game. Instead of third-team and scout-team reps, Daniels got to work with the No. 2 offense according to sources with knowledge of the situation. It didn't result in immediate playing time. He traveled for the Kentucky and Florida games but didn't get in, even when Bennett suffered an AC sprain in his throwing shoulder against Florida. D'Wan Mathis, Georgia's starting quarterback in the season opener, came on in relief and struggled.
Daniels never let it get him down. He has come a long way in recent weeks by his own admission. Despite not really getting to be a part of the offensive game plan each week, he stayed ready. Instead of taking the third-team reps and stewing on the fact that he, a former five-star prospect, wasn't getting to play. He took it upon himself to do what it took to get better. That included prepping Georgia's defense each week as the scout team quarterback.
That may not mean much to the common fan, but to Smart, that meant a lot. The way Daniels waited for his opportunity isn't something that Smart views as common or ordinary.
"Let's make the discussion about how well JT handled it in a world where nobody handles things very well when they don't get what they want," Smart said. "What he did is he said, 'coach, I want to come down to the scouts and I want to throw and I want to be part of the game plan.' And he came down with me and went every day against what I think's a pretty good defense and he knew he wasn't going to get hit but he made plays, he moved around in the pocket, and he started showing us that, 'hey, I can do this thing.' He took the bull by the horns and he took advantage of it tonight. And Mississippi State played us to stop the run, too. They took a lot of chances and he took advantage of that."
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November 22, 2020 at 01:16PM
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Kirby Smart responds to 'why now?' for JT Daniels - 247Sports
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