WATCH: JT Daniels comes off the bench, leads Georgia touchdown drive
He was one of the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites. Saturday afternoon, JT Daniels came off the bench to lead another touchdown drive against Missouri.
Daniels came in with 10:55 left in the third quarter and took Georgia 41 yards down the field for the score — a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ladd McConkey. It was the Bulldogs’ fifth touchdown of the day and it extended their lead to 40-3 over Missouri.
Stetson Bennett got the start for Georgia once again on Saturday, but Kirby Smart pulled him with his team ahead 33-3 over Missouri. Bennett completed 13 of 19 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Georgia offense.
Georgia is getting it done on both sides of the ball against Missouri. The Bulldogs totaled 437 yards through the quarters while holding the Tigers to 147. On the offensive side, Bennett and Daniels combined for 312 yards on 17-of-25 passing and three touchdowns.
Inside the Stetson Bennett-JT Daniels discussion
Daniels was Georgia’s starter at the beginning of the year, but has dealt with lat and oblique injuries this year. That allowed Bennett to come in as starter, and Kirby Smart has stuck with the former walk-on even after Daniels got healthy.
In six games as a starter, Bennett is 66 of 98 for 1,153 yards and 12 touchdowns. Daniels, meanwhile, is 54 of 71 passes — a 76% clip — for 567 yards and five touchdowns in three games as a starter.
Even though Daniels got healthy, Smart decided to stick with Bennett for “continuity” sake.
“Probably the biggest thing was continuity,” Smart said. “Stetson has done a really great job. The next biggest thig was JT has not been in practice as much as Stetson. So went went with the guy that has been practicing the most and been out there the most. JT felt good last week and took quite a few reps this week. But at the end of the day, we went with the guy who had the most continuity and we though we’re playing well with him.”
He’s not wrong. Georgia is still undefeated this season and Bennett is a big reason why. The Bulldogs are averaging 42.2 points per game in the games Bennett has started, which helps prove Smart’s point.
With three games left on the schedule after this week, we’ll see if Smart sticks with Bennett the rest of the way. Georgia has already locked up an appearance in the SEC title game, so there’s plenty at stake.
Georgia and Missouri are currently playing on ESPN.