(Photo by WVU Athletics)
When news broke that former Georgia quarterback J.T. Daniels was transferring to WVU, fans were ecstatic. Though his career hadn’t turned out quite the way that he had planned, he would still have a chance to catch fire in the Old Gold and Blue.
Well, folks, we are eight games into his stint in Morgantown. He has been far from bad, but his stats aren’t necessarily jumping off the page, either. Actually, when you take a look at his stats, they are eerily similar to one former Mountaineer’s stats through eight games. Who could that be? The answer may surprise you.
Jarret Doege.
In 2021, Doege connected on 169 of 255 passes (66%) for 2,071 yards and 11 touchdowns to 7 interceptions through eight games. He had also helped his squad accumulate a 4-4 record which included a 38-31 victory over a nationally ranked Iowa State squad.
As for Daniels, he has connected on 185 of 293 passes (63%) for 1,961 yards and 12 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. His squad has a record of 3-5, and no victories over a ranked foe.
While Daniels may have the better touchdown-interception ration, Doege had a better completion percentage, more yards, and a better record. Granted Doege did have a MUCH better defense to work with, but stats are stats. Doege simply had more success through eight game last season than Daniels has had this season.
But let’s also take a look at something else that had helped this outcome – Doege had more to work with. He had 1,000 yard rusher Leddie Brown in the backfield, and more seasoned targets at receiver. Daniels, on the other hand, is working with a lot of youth all around.
Minus the experienced offensive line, many of his receivers and running backs are relatively youthful. This does play huge dividends on the signal-caller’s performance.
If you are shocked by these stats, that’s no surprise. I am, too, and so will many others.
Is J.T. Daniels better than Doege? In my opinion, yes. However, Doege does have something to argue here.
So we have to ask the question – how much of an improvement over Doege was Daniels? We will have to wait until season’s conclusion to truly know.
