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Report: JT Daniels to Transfer to Rice as QB's 4th Team; Won CFP Title with Georgia
December 21, 2022
Former West Virginia quarterback JT Daniels is transferring to Rice, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
The Owls will be the fourth school of Daniels' college career. He began his journey at USC before moving to Georgia after two years. He was a member of the Bulldogs in 2021 when they won the College Football Playoff national title.
The 6'3" signal-caller then joined the Mountaineers for 2022 and threw for 2,107 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Rice is coming off its fifth straight losing season under head coach Mike Bloomgren, though the school did earn its first bowl berth since 2014. The Owls fell 38-24 to Southern Miss in the LendingTree Bowl.
Bloomgren is clearly counting on Daniels to inject some life into a passing game that averaged 232.9 yards per game. The unit will be losing leading receiver Bradley Rozner and Isaiah Esdale, who combined for 1,420 yards, but retain Luke McCaffrey. The Nebraska transfer had 58 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns in his first full year as a wideout.
Thamel noted Bloomgren and Daniels have some history. Bloomgren tried to recruit Daniels out of high school was he was Stanford's offensive coordinator and then again when Daniels entered the transfer portal.
You'd expect Daniels to open the 2023 season as the starting quarterback. TJ McMahon, the incumbent, finished with 2,102 yards, 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 10 appearances in 2022.
Assuming Daniels gets the nod, he'll have a stiff test right out of the gate. Rice opens next year on the road against Texas.