Jayden Daniels explains the significance of opening matchup against Florida State

The LSU Tigers have huge expectations for the upcoming 2023 season. And in their first game, they will be tested right off the bat when they take on the Florida State Seminoles in Orlando, Florida. This will be a massive game for the Tigers, head coach Brian Kelly, and starting quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Last year when the two squads faced off, LSU fell in gut-wrenching fashion by one point, 24-23. So, because of that crushing defeat, do the Tigers have that rematch against the Seminoles air marked on their calendar? According to Daniels, yes, they do, but for a different reason.

“We air mark it because it’s the first one. I mean, we all know what happened last year; we want that taste out of our mouths,” said Daniels. “We’re going to go up against a great opponent in Florida State that hit a high note at the end of the season. So it’s going to be a dog fight. But it’s the first one. It should be a top-ten matchup. So, all eyes are gonna be on us.”

LSU and Florida State’s Week 1 matchup will go a long way in setting the tone for both teams’ direction as the 2023 season continues. Both programs have aspirations of winning their respective conferences and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Whoever falls in Week 1 will not suffer any conference consequences, but it could hurt their chances to make the College Football Playoff, and that’s what makes their Week 1 showdown critical, according to Daniels.

“It’s very critical. We’re gonna play tough games down the stretch… Last year, we lost game one, and we had aspirations to go to the playoffs. So it’s kind of hard; you play a lot of close games. Once you lose that second game, it’s kind of hard to get back into that contention for a playoff spot at the end of the year. So winning game one is always very critical, especially for the things we want to accomplish.”

Daniels shares excitement for Florida State rematch

While LSU’s game against Florida State is not being pedestaled by Daniels, he is still very much excited for it. At the Manning Passing Academy held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA, the Tigers’ quarterback addressed the excitement he has for the two power programs’ highly anticipated rematch.

“We just really want that one back,” said Daniel. “It’s sad the way we lost. It sucked. But we know that we’re a better team now. They’re a better team, also. But another year in our system with the coaches, with the players. We expect the outcome to be different and go out there and put on the show.