The former Georgia Bulldogs QB remembers his debut against Mississippi State

Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback JT Daniels has come a long way since his early days as Georgia's quarterback. He's currently an offensive analyst at West Georgia, but this weekend the quarterback will come full circle. His first UGA game was against Mississippi State, and he thought about it through Online Athens.

He called it “a pretty eventful night.” Any time you haven't played for 13 months, it feels strange to step in. A lot of things can happen to you while playing football every time you step on the field. And the last time you literally played against a live defense and you tore your ACL, there's definitely something in your head that's playing and can bring certain emotions.”

In that game, Daniels, a USC transfer, completed 28 of his 38 pass attempts for 401 yards and four touchdowns, and Georgia won 31-24.

Daniels' career has been a roller coaster ride. He went from a five-star USC-committed recruit to a freshman in his first year. He transferred to Georgia as a sophomore, but lost his starting job to Stetson Bennett in 2021. Then he would transfer to West Virginia and Rice. Daniels was forced to retire on medical grounds after his season at Rice due to concussions. He now coaches at West Georgia.

“Mississippi State kind of sold out to stop the run,” Daniels said. “I was lucky that Todd Monken called and George (Pickens), Jermaine (Burton), Kearis (Jackson), Darnell (Washington), a lot of guys in the receiving game stepped up and played really well.”

His debut also marked the last time the Mississippi State Bulldogs traveled to Sanford Stadium. They will travel there again this Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET to play the Georgia Bulldogs.