JT Daniels “I’m Your Huckleberry”

It has been quite the season for the Georgia Bulldogs.  Currently ranked 8th in the nation  in the college football playoff rankings and with a record of 7-2, it seems like the Bulldogs have just now figured out their identity.  The reason for this late identity discovery is they have finally found their quarterback, or their “huckleberry,” JT Daniels, who strikes a strong resemblance of the character Doc Holliday from the movie Tombstone,  known for his famous line, “I’m your huckleberry.”  The former 5 star quarterback out of high school transferred from USC during the off season, in hope that he could be the starting quarterback that Georgia is looking for to finally win them a national championship.  Unfortunately for Daniels, he wasn’t able to receive attention from UGA’s medical staff until fall camp began, resulting in him not being fully healthy by their first game to start.  The Bulldogs had to look to D’wan Mathis and Stetson Bennett IV to fill that starting role at quarterback.  Bennett ended up beating out Mathis for the starting role when he came into that first game against Arkansas, and led the Bulldogs to victory.  However, he simply just didn’t have enough to beat the big teams like #1 Alabama and #7 Florida, who are responsible for Georgia’s two losses this year.  It wasn’t until two weeks after the Florida game that Daniels was 100% healthy and ready to play.  

For his first game played in over a year, Daniels started the game against Mississippi State and absolutely lit up the field.  The redshirt sophomore went 28/38 for 401 yards and 4 touchdowns.  That is good for Georgia’s first 400 yard passer in a game since 2013 when Aaron Murray did it, who by the way holds many passing records for the SEC.  Not only did he show out, he proved that he can be Georgia’s entire offense when they need him to.  This was displayed after Georgia had a season low of just 8 rushing yards that game.  

Was it beginner’s luck?  No.  In his second game starting for the Bulldogs, they took a trip to Columbia, South Carolina, to face a banged up Gamecocks team.  Although he wasn’t needed very much this game, since Georgia ran for 332 yards that day, Daniels still showed promise for the dawgs when he needed to make a big throw on third down to keep the drive alive.  He went 10/16 for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He did throw one interception, but that came on a drive that happened just before halftime, and it was far more of an unlucky play than a mistake from JT.

This last week, the Bulldogs went to Columbia, Missouri to take on the 25th ranked Missouri Tigers.  During this game, the Bulldogs offense seemed nearly unstoppable, and Daniels played a big role during the game.  He often found one of his favorite targets, sophomore receiver George Pickens, who also had himself a day with 5 catches for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Daniels ended up finishing the day going 16/27 for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Once again, showing how lethal his arm can be in this new looking Georgia offense.  

One big part of the offense that was missing at the beginning of the season, was the threat of George Pickens.  Last year as a freshman, Pickens looked to be Georgia’s next first round receiver taken in the NFL draft when eligible.  Unfortunately, Pickens got off to a slower start than he expected.  He wasn’t thrown the ball as much as he should’ve been, but he also dealt with an upper body injury for a few weeks and did not play in that game against Florida.  Since Daniels has stepped in at quarterback, not only just Pickens, but all of Georgia’s receivers have looked different.  They now are showing how elite they can be if they are just given a chance to make a play on the ball.  In fact, it seems like every time JT throws a deep ball to someone, it is either caught, or a pass interference is drawn. 

Through the first 4 games, Pickens had a total of just 140 receiving yards.  In the 3 games that Daniels has been at quarterback, his receiving yards were almost double of what he had in the first 4 games with a total of 238 yards.  Jermaine Burton, a very talented freshman receiver, had a total of 130 receiving yards through his first 6 games without Daniels at QB.  In the 3 games that Daniels started, Burton had a total of 268 yards receiving, good enough to double what he did during the first 6 games.  

The way Georgia’s offense has transformed these last few weeks, I don’t think anyone in the country wants to play them right now, even though they have a banged up defense.  During those first 6 games Georgia’s offense averaged 378 total yards per game as well as 29 points per game.  With JT at the helm of the offense, in those 3 games, Georgia’s offense is now averaging 481 total yards per game and 42 points per game.  If that isn’t an offensive transformation, I don’t know what is.  

Most of Daniels’s success passing has come on the most important down for an offense, 3rd down.  During those 3 games, Daniels is now 16/19 for 270 yards and 6 touchdowns, yes, that’s a 84 percent completion percentage.  Georgia fans have a lot to look forward to in the future, since it looks like they have found their “huckleberry” they have been looking for all along.  Watch out for the dawgs in these upcoming seasons, because the way this offense looks now, with their already unbelievable defense, a national championship wouldn’t be surprising.