Brian Kelly assesses Jayden Daniels' LSU debut, responds to possibility of playing two quarterbacks

Like just about every other aspect of LSU’s ignominious one-point loss to Florida State, the play of transfer quarterback Jayden Daniels is subject to further scrutiny. His play on Sunday in New Orleans certainly wasn’t up to the standard for the Tigers, but head coach Brian Kelly is sticking with his No. 1 quarterback.

Daniels, who came to LSU from Arizona State, eked out the starting job in an open competition during fall camp, besting the competition — Garrett Nussmeier — with his dynamic abilities in the running game. Even with the up-and-down play from Daniels in the opener, Kelly did not consider inserting Nussmeier into the game.

“It was never a conversation. There was never a time during the game where Mike and I — Mike Denbrock, that is, or Joe Sloan — had a conversation about, ‘Hey, let’s make a change here. Let’s see if that’s the best option for us.’ That was never a conversation. And right now, it’s — Jayden’s our No. 1 quarterback,” Kelly said on Tuesday.

Daniels finished the game 26-for-35 passing for 209 yards and two touchdowns, plus he avoided any costly turnovers. And the element he brings on the ground was prevalent, especially late as he guided the Tigers on a 99-yard drive in the dying moments of the game to score a touchdown that set-up the game-tying PAT that was blocked. All told, Daniels finished with 16 rushes for 114 yards for 325 yards of total offense. The next closest LSU rusher was Penn State transfer running back Noah Cain with 23 yards of seven carries.

But a slow start hampered LSU and Daniels was a part of that, too. Kelly knows it can’t keep going that way for LSU to get where it wants to go.

“I think I’ve talked a little bit about it,” Kelly said. “I think early recognition needs to be better. But I thought he competed well. I thought later in the game, he definitely settled into some really good rhythm. I think when we did go some tempo, that really benefitted him. I thought late, his pocket presence was excellent. He knew when to run, he knew when to stay in the pocket and find the open receiver. You know, I think, first game, kind of a mixed bag early on. Settled into it nicely as the game went on. But that’s not good enough against good teams. You’ve got to be ready to go, right out. And I think this will be, probably a really good game — this past game — for him to really learn from and up his game.”