Earlier this season, Georgia’s offense struggled without a true quarterback and it showed. Although, since Southern Cal transfer J.T. Daniels has taken over, the Bulldogs have looked a whole lot more impressive on the offensive side of the ball.
Georgia’s offense has been able to rack up 76 points over the last two games and it seems like they are finally hitting their stride. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs currently rank No. 63 nationally and No. 10 in the SEC in total offense. Georgia is averaging 397 yards and 31.25 points per game through their first eight games. Even though those numbers aren’t where they need to be, it seems like things are trending in the right direction with Daniels under center.
“I feel like with the amount of time that we’ve had to work with each other, we have come a pretty far way,” said redshirt sophomore Kearis Jackson on Monday when asked about the offensive production. “But we are still not there yet. There’s room for improvement, especially just knowing that we haven’t played with the same quarterback all year.”
Jackson said there’s going to be some inconsistencies with timing and things of that nature when working with a new signal caller.
“That’s to be expected,” Jackson said. “Like I said, this obviously is going to be very important for us for just coming up. Just knowing another game to play this weekend and knowing that we’re going to have to execute.”
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked last week if he thinks Georgia needs to score more points. According to the fifth-year head coach, he thinks it certainly needs to be done, and it seems like he’s been looking forward to a change.
Georgia’s offensive had a season-high 401 passing yards against Mississippi State two weeks ago, although they suffered in the run-game only totaling eight yards. A week later against South Carolina, the Bulldogs totaled 332 yards on the ground while Daniels threw for 139 yards.
Smart has said several times over the last couple of weeks that the offense is just taking what the defense gives them. In fact, that seems to be the case since Daniels has taken over as the full-time starter. Georgia doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel per se but needs to find a balance that can keep opposing defenses on their toes.
“We are all always looking at what is going on in today’s pro-game, college-game, high school-game,” Smart said last week. “You are trying to be innovative and creative. You are always trying to advance your team.”
With Daniels likely returning next year, Smart and offensive coordinator Todd Monken are trying to build an offense in which he can excel. It all starts with knowing what they’ve got on the depth chart, and what is coming in on the recruiting front.
“At the end of the day, you take the players you have and you want to build your team around, your best players and what they are capable of,” Smart said. “That is a part of your recruiting process. That is a part of your offensive scheme, philosophy, to score.”
Georgia has a ton of talent returning in the wide receiving corps as well as at the running back position. With all that talent, Georgia could dangerous on offense for the foreseeable future. Still, it all continues with this weekend’s matchup against Missouri.
“If you have George Pickens and Jermaine Burton, if you’re not going to throw it up to them, don’t recruit them,” Daniels said after the Mississippi State game.
Here is the video from Jackson’s interview: