Hello Again Old Friend: JT Daniels and Kedon Slovis

This isn’t how it was scripted, but the quarterback story that began in LA has found it’s way into a bitter rivalry across the country. Once teammates at USC, JT Daniels and Kedon Slovis will go head to head as the starting quarterbacks for West Virginia and Pitt this Thursday night.

Daniels arrived at USC a five star recruit in the 2018 recruiting class. He was expected to step in early in his career and be the future of the Trojans’ offense. He opened the 2018 season as the starter and had an up and down season where he showed flashes of his talent but also struggled with consistency and turnovers. Daniels was expected to take a big step forward in his sophomore season, but suffered a season ending injury after one game.

Kedon Slovis was not much of a ballyhooed recruit, but instead flew a bit under the radar, arriving as a three star recruit from Arizona in the 2019 class. With Daniels earmarked as the starter for the next two years, Slovis was expected to develop and learn before playing a key role for the Trojans. Slovis arrived in the spring and impressed in camp earning the back-up quarterback spot before ultimately taking over when Daniels was injured. He was excellent during 2019, completing over 70 percent of his passes, averaging 8.9 yards per attempt with 30 touchdowns against 9 interceptions.

Slovis’ success raised expectations and cemented him as the starter for USC heading into 2021. That success also spelled the end of JT Daniels’ time in Los Angeles. Daniels transferred to Georgia for the 2020 season where he would compete for the starting job. Slovis was not quite as sharp as he was in 2019, but led USC to a 5 – 1 record in the shortened Pac-12 season. Meanwhile, Daniels remained out the first six games of the season, but sparked the Georgia offense the final four games, completing over 67 percent of his passes, averaging 10.3 yards per attempt with 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Both Daniels and Slovis started the 2021 season as the starters at Georgia and USC. Daniels was injured early in the season and Stetson Bennett took over the job leading Georgia to a national championship. With Bennett back, Daniels entered the transfer portal again, this time finding a home at West Virginia. Slovis had a tough season on the field and struggling with injuries of his own. With a coaching change at USC, Slovis also opted for a fresh start in 2022 and transferred to Pittsburgh.

Daniels and Slovis both earned starting spots at their new school during fall camp. As fate would have it the former teammates open the season on opposite sidelines in the Backyard Brawl on Thursday. When they were together at USC, both quarterbacks were just starting their careers, now they are both veterans trying to prove themselves with new teams.

Daniels is taking over a West Virginia offense that was ninth in the Big 12 in scoring and yards per play. The offense lost starting running back, Leddie Brown, to the NFL and leading receiver, Winston Wright Jr, to transfer. With limited production returning on offense, Daniels will have to lead the way for the Mountaineers. He will be asked to elevate the play of his skill players and help the offense find an identity.

While his career has been mired by injury, Daniels has been effective when healthy over the last two seasons. He had big games at Georgia, where availability was a bigger issue than his productivity when he was in the lineup. He has the arm talent and pedigree to inject life into the West Virginia offense. Daniels will be an upgrade at the quarterback position, allowing the coaching staff to open up the offense and stretch the field. His ability will make life easier on the receivers and open up running lanes for the backs, resulting in an improved West Virginia offense.

Slovis will have some big shoes to fill at Pitt. Kenny Pickett had an excellent season for the Panthers and was a first round pick in the NFL Draft. Pickett’s offensive coordinator was Mark Whipple, who has since moved on to take the same position at Nebraska. Pickett’s go-to receiver was Bilitnekoff award winner, Jordan Addison, who has since transferred to USC (of course). While Slovis is expected to replace Pickett, he will have to do it with a different offensive coordinator and without the best weapon the 2021 offense had.

Pitt relied on their passing attack in 2021, but they do return their top three leading rushers and the entire offensive line from last season. That should provide Slovis with solid protection and some consistency in the running game. While the transfer portal took Addison away, it did bring in Konata Mumpfield who was Akron’s leading receiver as a freshman in 2021. Slovis may not have the elite go-to receiver that Pickett had, but the cupboard is not bare for him at Pitt.

Slovis needs to regain the confidence he played with in 2019. He was decisive and threw the football with conviction. That belief in himself and the offense rubbed off on the entire team and led to his success at USC. The ineptitude of the Clay Helton coaching staff created a situation where Slovis did not progress over the course of his career and seemed to lose the confidence that defined him early in his career. The change of scenery and winning culture that Pitt has created recently will create a great situation for Slovis to find his swagger again.

JT Daniels and Kedon Slovis were both considered the future of the USC football team, albeit at different times in 2019. As fate would have it, neither finished his career at USC with the success that was projected for them. Now both will enter 2022 trying to write a new story with their new team. Of course that story starts in the Backyard Brawl against one another.

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College Football: UCLA at USC. November 23, 2019, Los Angeles, CA Image taken by Steve Cheng, Bruin Report Online is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.