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Published Nov 23, 2020
The Daily Recap: It's all about JT Daniels after Georgia's win
Jason Butt  •  UGASports
Staff

Here is the Nov. 23 edition of The Daily Recap presented by JFQ Lending.

Why the wait?

Quarterback JT Daniels was incredible in Georgia's 31-24 win over Mississippi State, throwing for 401 yards and four touchdowns. Anthony Dasher wrote about why it took so long for Daniels to finally start for Georgia, considering his game compared to previous starters Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis.

“Would I have loved him to go out and do that same thing to other teams? Absolutely,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “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."

Better late than never

If you’re to take the positive approach, this is a situation where you’re just glad to see Daniels on the field for the Bulldogs. While Daniels was cleared as far as back as Week 2, two things—at least according to both Smart and Daniels—kept him from getting on the field.

The first was that Smart admitted he didn’t think Daniels gave Georgia the best option to win. This goes back to the preseason, when Smart said Daniels’ mobility and decision making weren’t that good from his perspective. It also goes back to the bye week before the Kentucky game, when Daniels saw some run with the first team. Then, Smart concluded that Bennett should continue to start.

In addition, Daniels said that while he was ready to play after receiving clearance in Week 2, it was a positive development that director of sports medicine Ron Courson continued to work to build strength in his knee.

“As soon as I got cleared, I was ready to go out and play football,” Daniels said. “But it absolutely should be said that I’ve progressed a good amount since then. We’re still progressing every week to try and get full strength and full health back there.”

Look forward, not back

While there will be plenty of people who lament the fact that Daniels didn’t play until Saturday, Dasher made the case to look forward instead of dwelling on the unknown of what could have been.

“So folks, try to enjoy what you're witnessing. While it may be unfair to label Daniels the ‘savior,’ the future at least appears brighter with Daniels at the controls than what it recently did.

‘It was fun’

Dayne Young explained how Daniels won him over during and after Saturday’s win.

“Daniels comes across as a professional in a sport ascribed to amateurism,” Young wrote. “He is kind, thoughtful, gracious, confident, bold, and refreshingly honest.

“‘If you have George Pickens and Jermaine Burton, if you’re not going to throw it up to them, don’t recruit them,’ Daniels said.

“That could very well be a vibrant inflection point for Georgia’s offensive identity. It might be the modern version of Herschel Walker’s famous ‘the ball ain’t heavy’ line. Daniels stood behind the podium, in front of a Zoom camera, and delivered candid responses with the same poise and swagger he showed in the pocket.

“It was fun.”

Thoughts and observations

Brent Rollins wrote that Saturday's performance was the kind of offensive performance he thought Georgia would show back in Week 1 against Arkansas.

“By design, the ball came out quick early and throughout the game—RPOs that ended in quick George Pickens' catches in the first two drives, numerous screens, rolling the pocket, play-action deep shots, and especially heavy involvement of Pickens in the passing game,” Rollins wrote. “This is the offense I thought we'd see to open the season against Arkansas, adding Dwan Mathis' ability to be a threat as a runner in the zone read game. It wouldn't shock me to see Daniels' average time to throw be at least a half-second less than Stetson Bennett's average, and well below Mathis.”

Burton excels

The biggest beneficiary of Daniels’ game was the aforementioned Burton, who caught eight passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Trent Smallwood noted that the freshman has been frequently targeted this year but finally got to make his presence felt against a Mississippi State defense that dared Georgia to challenge it downfield.

“There has been no shortage of targets for true freshman Jermaine Burton, but the receptions had not been there,” Smallwood wrote. “With Stetson Bennett and D'Wan Mathis at quarterback, Burton had only 10 receptions on 28 targets for the season. Saturday evening, Burton was targeted nine times, hauling in all eight receptions for 197 yards and two touchdowns. That was with him missing most of the second half after being a little banged up early in the third quarter—though he did return in the fourth.”

‘Don’t bite the cheese’

Safety Lewis Cine explained why Mississippi State was able to have so much success dinking and dunking down the field. The game-plan going into the game was to not commit the early developments of each play. In Mike Leach’s air raid offense, a play will typically show something to draw defenders’ attention early, with another route springing open behind it.

Cine said the plan was to keep all of Mississippi State’s plays in front of the Georgia defense. Of course, Mississippi State was still able to pick up a ton of yards and play a turnover-free ballgame.

“Our defensive coordinator usually says, ‘Don’t bite the cheese, because most likely there’s something behind you coming,” Cine said. “The type of offense they have is, they’ll show you something so you can bite it, and have something come from behind you. The goal was to have them throw it in front of us, so we could just rally to it.”

Said linebacker Nakobe Dean: “We just had to keep our composure and stay patient. That’s what changed the most (in the second half). We knew we had to execute better, and that rests on the shoulders of the linebackers and leaders of the defense.”

By the numbers

Dave McMahon broke down all the important stats from the game, including the fact that Georgia held Mississippi State to 22 rushing yards. It marked the fifth time this season that an opposing team ran for less than 100 yards on Georgia.

A first for a UGA QB

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Game over

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Air Chubb, indeed

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Outside the Vent

Would Greg Schiano have been a better hire for Tennessee than Jeremy Pruitt?

Clemson’s Dabo Swinney believes Florida State used Covid-19 as an excuse not to play.

Somehow, a win is a low point for Michigan football.

Oregon jumped into the top 10 of the AP poll; Georgia ranks No. 13.

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