Dawgs Daily

Former Georgia QB JT Daniels and West Virginia Lose Late to Pittsburgh

How did JT Daniels fare in his starting debut with the West Virginia Mountaineers?

Harrison Reno

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What a game it was to help kick off week one of college football. In one of the biggest games played Thursday night, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, once two longtime rivals, renewed their acquittances for the first time in eleven years. 

The game brought plenty of intrigue from across the college football world; one of those many reasons fans tuned in was former Georgia quarterback JT Daniels. Daniels, the former USC and Georgia starting quarterback, was making his starting debut with the West Virginia Mountaineers. 

After getting the Mountaineers off to a hot start as Daniels led the West Virginia offense down the field for the game's first touchdown, he connected with Bryce Ford-Wheaton for six. 

Even with the game being tied at ten apiece heading into halftime, the former five-star signal caller was, by all means, outplaying his fellow former teammate at the University of Southern California through the first half of play. The Irvin, California, native went into the half after completing 14 of his 20 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, trumping Slovis's stat-line of 84 yards while completing 6 of 8 passes. 

But football is a game of two halves... 

Kedon Slovis, Daniels' replacement at USC after the former tore his ACL at the beginning of the 2019 season, helped the Panthers take back the lead late in the fourth quarter. Slovis connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass before rushing for another, tying the game at 31. 

With the game living up to its "Backyard Brawl" nickname, it was a pick-six by Pitt's M.J. Devonshire, as he caught a ball straight off the hands of a West Virginia receiver and returned it 56-yards, giving the Panthers the game's winning touchdown. 

The pick-six thrown by Daniels was a continuation of a number of dropped passes from his Mountaineer receiving core. But that was only part of the problem, as the final offensive drive for West Virginia ended after a costly pair of sacks on first and third down that forced West Virginia into a fourth and long, which ultimately ended in an incomplete shot at the endzone from Daniels that fell just short of being caught. 

Daniels had a final stat line that read 23/39 passing for 214 yards with two touchdowns through the air with an interception, along with a rushing touchdown for the Mountaineers' new starting signal caller. 

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Harrison Reno
HARRISON RENO

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