LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels put on a show Saturday night in Tiger Stadium as he tied a school record for total touchdowns as the Fighting Tigers easily defeated Georgia State 56-14. Daniels had six touchdowns passing and two rushing as he tied Joe Burrow’s record for eight total TDs. The Heisman candidate threw for 413 yards and rushed for 96.
Coach Brian Kelly says you can’t stop him.
“How do you defend him? They tried to blitz him that didn’t work, they dropped eight in the fourth quarter and that didn’t work,” said Kelly. “We’ve seen virtually everything this year from trap coverages to every kind of configuration and it just hasn’t worked.”
Despite playing a lesser opponent, LSU’s offense didn’t take the foot off the gas pedal as they scored on its first eight drives. Daniels says he’s determined to finish the season strong.
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“I’m chasing to be great each and every week, I still got a long way to go, you can’t take games off, because if you do, you might get beat, so you got to play to that standard that I set from myself and for the whole team, because we are still chasing something at the end of the day,” said Daniels
For Daniels, he’s certainly chasing a Heisman Trophy. It seems like this is becoming more of a two-man race between Daniels and Oregon QB Bo Nix. Nix threw six touchdown passes in a 49-13 win over Arizona State.
Nix and the Ducks will face a nationally ranked Oregon State team on Friday and then he’ll also get a chance to impress voters in the Pac-12 Championship game.
He was asked after the Georgia State game if he could have dreamed of being in this situation when he made the decision to transfer to LSU.
“I believe that I could come here and make an impact, but to make an impact to this magnitude,” said Daniels said. “Being in the Heisman conversation is something I dreamt about. For me, it was to come here and try to get a fresh start and make a name for myself from where I was at Arizona State, just go out there and find the joy in football.
It's been a joy to watch Daniels. He now has 47 total touchdowns. He’s completed 73% of his passes for 3,577 yards and is averaging 8.2 yards a rush and has 1,014 rushing yards.
Kelly decided to keep Daniels in Saturday’s lopsided win into the fourth quarter. It was to boost his stats, but also the fans who braved a chilly night in Tiger Stadium wanted to see him play.
“We’re down to one more game left in the season, so I think it’s our job to continue to put a young man in a positive situation to show himself to everybody and look there is an entreating part to this, and he is entertaining,” said Kelly.
Daniels will get to entertain a post-Thanksgiving crowd on Saturday when the Tigers conclude the regular season with a home game against Texas A&M. Kick-off is at 11 AM. Get your popcorn ready as they say.