JT Daniels
No. 18 | |
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Position | Quarterback |
Personal information | |
Born: | Irvine, California, U.S. | February 2, 2000
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Weight | 237 lb (108 kg) |
Career history | |
College |
|
Bowl games | |
High school | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) |
Career highlights and awards | |
Jonathan Tyler Daniels (born February 2, 2000) is an American former college football quarterback who played for the USC Trojans and the Georgia Bulldogs, where he won the CFP national championship as a backup to Stetson Bennett. He then transferred to the West Virginia Mountaineers, and finally played for the Rice Owls.
Early years
Daniels was born in Irvine, California, the son of Ali and Steve Daniels. His father is Catholic and his mother is Jewish.[1] He attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California.[2] During his high school career, he passed for 12,014 yards with 152 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.[3]
Daniels was notable for earning the starting position his freshman year and full play calling responsibility his sophomore year, the latter of which being a distinction that took fellow Mater Dei and USC alum
College career
USC
2018 season
Daniels was a five-star recruit and ranked as the number one overall recruit in his class by Rivals.com prior to his reclassification.[9] He committed to the University of Southern California (USC) to play college football.[10] In December 2017, Daniels announced that he would graduate early from high school and reclassify to the 2018 class.[11] He enrolled in USC in June 2018 upon completion of his high school course work. In August 2018, he began USC's two week fall camp in a three-way competition for the starting quarterback position. Within three weeks, Daniels was named the starter over incumbents Matt Fink and Jack Sears,[12] making him the second true freshman in school history to start a season opener. In his true freshman year, Daniels passed for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns, and ten interceptions in 11 games, missing just one game due to concussion. The Trojans went 5–7 for the season.[13][14]
2019 season
In 2019, he won the starting job over Fink, Sears, and Kedon Slovis.[14] During the season opener against Fresno State, he tore his ACL during a sack in the second quarter; at the time of the injury, he had completed 25 of 34 passes for 215 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Daniels was eventually ruled out for the remainder of the year and Slovis was named the starting quarterback.[15][16]
Following the emergence of Kedon Slovis, USC head coach Clay Helton announced that Daniels entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on April 16, 2020.[17]
Georgia
2020 season
On May 28, 2020, Daniels announced that he would be transferring to the
On November 21, 2020, Daniels made his first start and appearance with Georgia against Mississippi State and went 28-of-38 for 401 passing yards with 4 touchdowns in the 31–24 win. Following that game, Daniels was named the starter for the remainder of the season. Daniels led the Bulldogs to the Peach Bowl, where he went 26-of-38 for 392 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception in the 24–21 win. The Bulldogs went 4–0 in Daniels' four starts and Daniels finished the season with 80 passing completions out of 119 attempts for 1,231 passing yards with 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
2021 season
Beginning the 2021 season, JT Daniels was the clear frontrunner for starting quarterback, with Stetson Bennett as backup. In the season opener against Clemson, Daniels threw 22-for-30 with 135 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. Following Georgia's victory, Daniels was sidelined with an oblique injury, leaving Bennett as the starter for an indefinite period.[19] Daniels returned two weeks later against South Carolina and threw 23-for-31 with 303 yards, and two touchdowns and one interception. Daniels started a week later on September 25 against Vanderbilt and threw 9-for-10 with two touchdowns for 129 yards, but was replaced by Bennett. Daniels did not return until November 6 against Missouri; however, he only appeared briefly in relief of a struggling Bennett, throwing 7-of-11 for 82 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Daniels' last appearance came against Charleston Southern on November 20 during senior day (the last home game of the season), and threw 7-for-12, gaining 73 yards and a touchdown during his brief stint.[20]
Despite a poor performance by Bennett in the SEC championship game against Alabama with two interceptions, coach Kirby Smart remained confident in Bennett's abilities for the remainder of the season. Following Georgia's national championship and Bennett's affirmation to play out his final season of eligibility in 2022, Daniels entered the NCAA transfer portal.
West Virginia
On April 13, 2022, Daniels announced his intention to transfer to West Virginia University.[21] He was benched midseason in favor of Garrett Greene. On December 5, Daniels entered the transfer portal.
Rice
On December 20, 2022, Daniels announced his intention to transfer to Rice University, his fourth program in his six-year collegiate career.[22]
Daniels led the
Retirement
On December 1, 2023, Daniels medically retired from football, after sustaining multiple concussions during his career.[24][25][26]
College statistics
Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
USC Trojans | ||||||||||||||||
2018 | 11 | 11 | 5−6 | 216 | 363 | 59.5 | 2,672 | 7.4 | 14 | 10 | 128.6 | 45 | −149 | −3.3 | 0 | |
2019 | 1 | 1 | 1−0 | 25 | 34 | 73.5 | 215 | 6.3 | 1 | 1 | 130.5 | 3 | −6 | −2.0 | 0 | |
Georgia Bulldogs | ||||||||||||||||
2020 | 4 | 4 | 4−0 | 80 | 119 | 67.2 | 1,231 | 10.3 | 10 | 2 | 178.5 | 10 | −71 | −7.1 | 0 | |
2021 | 6 | 3 | 3−0 | 68 | 94 | 72.3 | 722 | 7.7 | 7 | 3 | 155.1 | 4 | −18 | −4.5 | 0 | |
West Virginia Mountaineers | ||||||||||||||||
2022 | 10 | 10 | 4−6 | 200 | 327 | 61.2 | 2,107 | 6.4 | 13 | 9 | 122.9 | 30 | −51 | −1.7 | 1 | |
Rice Owls | ||||||||||||||||
2023 | 7 | 7 | 4−4 | 155 | 243 | 63.8 | 2,173 | 8.9 | 17 | 5 | 157.9 | 19 | −59 | −3.1 | 1 | |
Career | 39 | 36 | 21−15 | 744 | 1,180 | 63.1 | 9,120 | 7.7 | 62 | 30 | 140.2 | 111 | −354 | −3.2 | 2 |
References
- ^ Emerson, Seth. "'An old soul': Georgia QB JT Daniels and the mother who shaped him". The Athletic. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ Sherman, Mitch (February 9, 2017). "The next great QB prospect might just be JT Daniels". ESPN. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Fryer, Steve (December 22, 2017). "Mater Dei quarterback JT Daniels confirms plan to leave school and enroll early at USC". Press-Telegram. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Piellucci, Mike (August 17, 2018). "The Next Great USC QB Shouldn't Even Be in College". The Ringer. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Greene, Dan (July 17, 2018). "JT Daniels Becomes First to Win Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year Award After Junior Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- OC Register. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- LA Times. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Poff, Zack (December 24, 2017). "Final 2017 MaxPreps Top 25 high school football rankings". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ "JT Daniels, Pro-style quarterback". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- OC Register. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Bonagura, Kyle (December 22, 2017). "USC QB recruit JT Daniels graduating early to play next season". ESPN. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Kercheval, Ben (August 27, 2018). "USC names star freshman JT Daniels its starting quarterback: Three things to know". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Abdeldaim, Alaa (August 20, 2019). "JT Daniels Named USC's Starting Quarterback". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ Kercheval, Ben; Sallee, Barrett (September 1, 2019). "USC quarterback JT Daniels out for season with torn ACL and meniscus, a report says". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ Kartje, Ryan (September 8, 2019). "USC makes the AP top 25 rankings after Kedon Slovis' big game in win over Stanford". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "USC quarterback Daniels to enter transfer portal". ESPN.com. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ Austin, Brooks (September 8, 2021). "Sources: JT Daniels Dealing With An Injury". Sports Illustrated Georgia Bulldogs News, Analysis and More. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ "JT Daniels Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ "JT Daniels transferring to play college football at West Virginia after running from stints at USC, Georgia". ESPN.com. April 13, 2021.
- ^ "Sources: Daniels picks Rice as 4th college stop". ESPN.com. December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ "Daniels passes for 401 yards, Rice stuns Houston in double OT, 43-41". AP News. September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ "Rice QB JT Daniels to medically retire from football". 247Sports.com. December 1, 2023.
- ^ "Ex-USC, Georgia QB JT Daniels Retires from Football Due to Concussion History". Syndication.BleacherReport.com. December 1, 2023.
- ^ "BREAKING: Former Bulldogs Quarterback JT Daniels Medically Retires From Football". SI.com. December 1, 2023.