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ATHENS, GA. – JT Daniels is going to be Georgia’s starting quarterback going forward. Kirby Smart all but confirmed only when he spoke to reporters after the Bulldogs 31-24 victory over Mississippi State. The faithful of the UGA will not soon forget these beginnings.
Daniels completed 28 of 38 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns. The visiting Bulldogs sold themselves to stop Georgia’s running game, daring Daniels to beat them and he did. Despite the penalties, crashes and a shaky start, Daniels continued to play.
So this begs the question “why now?” The quarterback position has been a soft spot for the Bulldogs in recent games, especially in losses to Alabama and Florida. Smart says he and his coaching staff noticed Stetson Bennett’s struggles from the second half of the game in Alabama. They knew they had to find something else when this “downhill” trend continued against Kentucky and Florida. But through it all, Smart maintains that an experienced coaching staff did everything they thought would give the Bulldogs a shot at winning.
“Absolutely I would,” Smart said when asked if he could understand why anyone would ask why Daniels didn’t play until tonight. “But I also think people have to take into consideration that I coach football for me no. Know how many years, 20 or 25 and god knows Monken has probably doubled my age. He doesn’t. there’s no decision that we make as coaches, as coaching staff, as offensive coaching staff, five guys that I love and think about in the world … maybe the question should be, man, aren’t they happy to have JT here, when nobody thought maybe they needed him. Would I have liked him to go out and do the same? to other teams? Absolutely. But decisions were made on who we thought gave us the best opportunity to win, and that was largely related to Stetson’s mobility and playing. As Stet struggled, we had to look for other options. He did a great job with this opportunity, he also had some help for the receivers who i came back and how the state of mississippi played them. I don’t want to use this to demean his way of playing. He played amazing. I am also proud of the way he played. But every decision we make is who gives us the best opportunity to win the game and the men in this room who make those decisions, they have a lot of experience in it.
Smart says Daniels started watching longer during the week before the Kentucky game. Instead of representatives of the Third Team and the Scout Team, Daniels worked with the No.2 attack according to sources with knowledge of the situation. It did not result in immediate playing time. He traveled for the Kentucky and Florida games, but did not participate, even when Bennett suffered an AC sprained shoulder against Florida. D’Wan Mathis, Georgia’s starting quarterback in the season opener, came in relief and struggled.
Daniels never let him down. He has come a long way in recent weeks by his own admission. While he hasn’t really been able to be a part of the attacking game plan every week, he has remained ready. Instead take the representatives of the third team and beware that he, a former five-star prospect, couldn’t play. He took it upon himself to do whatever it takes to get better. This included preparing Georgia’s defense each week as the Reconnaissance Team quarterback.
It might not mean much to the regular fan, but to Smart it meant a lot. The way Daniels waited for his opportunity is not something Smart considers common or ordinary.
“Let’s do the discussion of how 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 was he said, ‘Coach, I want to come to scouts and I want to pitch and I want to be part of the game plan.’ And he went down with me and went everyday against what I think was a pretty good defense and he knew he wasn’t going to be hit, but he played, he moved in the pocket, and he started showing us that, ‘hey, I can do that. He took the bull by the horns and he took advantage tonight. And Mississippi State played us to stop the race as well. They took a lot of risks and he took advantage of it. “
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