Nice ESPN article on Jayden Daniels

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Daniels went back in the game. Four plays later, he threw a strike to Malik Nabers for a 35-yard reception. Every little movement stung, though he tried not to let it show. Throwing the football, he said, "hurt a lot."

But on third-and-3, Daniels took one step backward, planted his back leg on the Missouri 40-yard line and took off. Bruised ribs and aching hand be damned, he knifed through the front seven, past a hapless linebacker, past a sprinting safety and ran untouched until he was tackled while falling into the end zone to give LSU its first lead of the game.

"I could feel the pain in the moment," Daniels recalled, "but I had to help my team win."

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Nabers sat in the corner of LSU's indoor facility last week, looked out on the practice field and reminisced. Because Daniels joined the team so late last year -- the day before spring practice -- and he wasn't named the starting quarterback until September, Nabers said they didn't have the time they needed to get on the same page. But this offseason was different.

They spent so many early mornings out here, Nabers said, running through the entire route tree. Countless reps. Countless conversations. Daniels and his receivers learned about one another over the course of months -- on the field and off it. And the result was a combination of chemistry and trust that's paying off today.

But there was another piece that went into Daniels' transformation this season. Rarely does a quarterback go from being timid to decisive.

Preparation, Daniels said, has been the key.

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