GEAUX TO RELEAFMED OUR PROUD PARTNERS
Even as many kept talking about a potential QB shakeup for LSU's week 10 matchup at home vs Florida, we knew Jayden Daniels was going to start and play this week, as LSUOdyssey reported Thursday.....he's simply too tough to keep off the field & too ambitious to corral......and tonight, Daniels made the Gators pay for his availability in one of the all time greatest offensive displays in college football history:
Jayden Daniels made it look easy & automatic as he led Mike Denbrock's juggernaut offense to 701 total yards from scrimmage, 606 by himself, completing 17 passes for 372 yards, headlined by 3 beautifully thrown TD passes (2 for Brian Thomas Jr, now at 13 receiving scores in 2023) & then nearly matched it on the ground, gassing Florida for runs of 85, 51, and 38 yards, the first 2 ending in TDs & seeing Daniels finish with a ridiculous 234 yards rushing.
Yes.....you read that correctly...no, that is NOT a typo.
Jayden Daniels is now the first LSU Tiger & first SEC conference player to ever account for 600 total yards in any game, a Tigers record held by QB Rohan Davey since 2001 (581 yards), and a mark we were sure Joe Burrow was able to break at some point throughout 2019...right???
Nope.
When he compiled "Madden-On-Easy-Mode" numbers, such as 606 total yards (fronted by 5 total TDs), becoming the first QB in FBS history to rack up 350+ passing yards and 200+ rushing yards during the same game, the history, the iconic performance, and the magic of what we'd just seen may have combed over us all.
But I assure you, on Saturday night, in every sleepy studio, lonely statistician's office, bedroom podcast or beat writer is pouring over the record books, trying to find all that he's accomplished in just 2 seasons at LSU......the performances only get better upon repeated viewing...and if Mike Denbrock's globetrotter offense continues anywhere close to this level of play, JD5's outrageous, unstoppable raw production, within the toughest conference in America, surely couldn't be denied.
In fact, the more JD5 elevates his game, the more a sense of loss permeates when wondering "what could've been possible" had LSU been able to figure out their defense to some kind of respectability, plus, had Matt House's group been able to get a full season from key veterans Greg Brooks Jr & Mekhi Wingo........as we witnessed vs Florida, JD5 didn't need much from the other phases of play;
With heart & soul Brooks Jr at the back, All-American Wingo up front, that could've been enough to finish the 2023 regular season as SEC West winners for a 2nd year running.
...JD5 is so inherently unstoppable, LSU's other two phases of play had a commandment, a destiny, a literal decree to make something of this unbelievable season from their signal caller...one of the 3 best overall college QB seasons I've witnessed (alongside Burrow 2019, Vick 1999), with honorable mentions to Cam Newton's 2010 or Vince Young circa 2005/2006.
In fact, with 2 games left prior to Heisman voting, Daniels has 2 more opportunities to continue to punch in more statement showings, while even Head Coach Brian Kelly's postgame comments called out the ridiculous & now unnecessary Heisman debate:
"He's the best quarterback in the country. He's the best playmaker in the country. I've watched them all. We're 7-3. That doesn't mean anything," Coach Kelly reiterated, "It matters who the best player is and he's the best player."
Now, after Saturday night, no one, even a potentially gutless Heisman committee, possess the ability to take anything away from JD5.
There is a legitimate case that his 2023 deluge of greatness is, despite the lack of a championship (or certified Heisman yet), at least right there nipping at the heels of Joe Burrow's 2019 🐐 machine.....that's not hyperbole, that's not exaggeration:
As if you needed a memo, JD5 is the best player in college football and clearly the most valuable.....something we've known since right around when the season started....and now, more and more eyes will be drawn to the magic #5 continues to conjure on a game to game basis.........however, will it help him secure the Heisman Trophy, even against possible CFP participants such as JJ McCarthy or Michael Pennix?
After tonight, there's only one leader: LSU's signal caller.
When the two winningest coaches in CFB history, Brian Kelly & Nick Saban, both agree, you know we're on to something here.....
As for myself, this author....I can't even believe what I've just seen....how can one even process what JD5 just committed upon Florida's "defense"???
Almost an hour after final whistle and I am still trying to find my face after that.....what did we just see???
I don't think I've ever watched someone orchestrate an offense to such perfected depravity that he assembles a 600 yard game.....but, watch out now, it wasn't just any quarterback, this was an LSU Tiger....a player we should feel privileged to have witnessed strut his stuff for 2 campaigns in Baton Rouge.
Sadly, right as LSU's fanbase begin to finally show JD5 the lockstep respect he deserved from the beginning, he only has 3 more games remaining of eligibility in purple and gold.
Still, Drink it down....every second....players like this only come around once every 4 years at LSU....😜
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THOMAS JR
150 YARDS, 6 CATCHES, 2 TDs
NABERS
132 YARDS, 6 CATCHES
(41 Yard catch taken off due to flag)
(2,718 Career Receiving Yards Makes him #2 All Time In LSU History, only trailing Josh Reed)
PERKINS
8 TACKLES, 1 SACK, 1 FF, 1 TFL, 1 QB HIT
TOVIANO
10 TACKLES, 1 PBU, 1 FR
SWINSON
3 TACKLES, 1 SACK, 1 FF, 1 TFL,
1 QB HIT, 1 PBU
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2023 Uninterrupted Writings Inc, a subsidiary of Uninterrupted Media LLC