LSU football: Jayden Daniels’ historic performance boggles Florida and everyone watching
Jayden Daniels’ passing performance Saturday night was remarkable.
So was his rushing performance.
The combination of the two was historic.
Daniels passed for 372 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Tigers’ 52-35 victory over Florida in Tiger Stadium.
He rushed for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns on a mere 12 carries.
That adds up to 606 yards of total offense. That’s the most in SEC history, surpassing the 585 yards that Mississippi State quarterback KJ Costello had in the 2020 season opener against LSU in the same stadium where Daniels performed Saturday night.
It’s fitting that Daniels should erase Costello’s entry from the top of the list, because State’s 44-34 victory came in the Tigers’ 1st game after the historic 2019 CFP championship season.
That loss drove home the point that 2019 was over and it probably was going to be a while before LSU – or anyone else – could duplicate what the Tigers had done in their championship run.
But Daniels’ performance on Saturday night was something that even Joe Burrow didn’t do as he was winning the Heisman Trophy by a record margin. (There’s more to be said that involves Daniels and the Heisman Trophy, and that will be addressed on “Tell the Truth Monday.”)
The 2023 Tigers, who entered Saturday’s game as the No. 19 team in the CFP rankings, improved to 7-3 and 5-2 in the SEC with the victory against Florida (5-5, 3-4).
This team was eliminated from the SEC West race in a 42-28 loss a week ago against No. 8 Alabama, which clinched the West on Saturday.
So this season, which will run its course with home games against Georgia State and Texas A&M as well as a bowl game, won’t stand out in the history of LSU football.
But Daniels’ season – and especially his performance Saturday night, 1 week after he was forced from the game against Alabama because of a concussion – will be.
He has directed the most dynamic offense in college football this season, and against the Gators he became the first player in the history of the NCAA Bowl Subdivision to pass for 350 yards and run for 200 yards in the same game.
In the Tigers’ 3 losses, Daniels’ biggest shortcoming was his inability to elevate a good but flawed team to greatness.
He didn’t have his best game in the opening loss to Florida State, throwing 1 of his 4 interceptions this season, but he still accumulated 410 yards.
In the loss to Ole Miss he totaled 513 yards and had a hand in 5 touchdowns, but the 49 points that he generated weren’t enough against a team that exploited the Tigers’ defense for 55.
Against Bama, 1 of his passes was tipped for an interception, but he still gained 382 yards and had a hand in 3 touchdowns before being injured.
But against Florida, nothing – especially the Gators defense, was going to hold Daniels back.
The Tigers gave up 488 yards and they lost a fumble on a kickoff return, which enabled Florida to take a 28-24 lead midway through the third quarter.
This game could have turned out the same way as the ones against Florida State, Ole Miss and Alabama did – but it didn’t. Daniels wouldn’t allow it.
Every time the Gators tried to take control of the game, Daniels had a response. Think of Burrow against Texas or Auburn or Alabama or Ole Miss or Clemson in the CFP Championship Game.
This time Daniels wasn’t dragged down by flaws in other areas of the team. In fact it was easy to see that his brilliance inspired his teammates and elevated their play.
After Florida took the lead, the Tigers defense did allow 1 more touchdown but also had 3 stops – forcing a punt and making 2 stops on 4th down.
Meanwhile LSU responded to the deficit with touchdowns on 4 consecutive possessions, following a touchdown on the last possession before the fumble on the kickoff return.
The Gators’ only lead of the game lasted 67 seconds before Daniels, who had an 85-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter, crossed the goal line on a 51-yard jaunt. Then he threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Noah Cain and threw 2 more – from 37 and 7 yards – to Brian Thomas Jr.
As the game wound down, observing which team was going to have the higher point total was less compelling than observing whether Daniels’ passing yardage or rushing yardage would be higher.