LSU’s star QB Jayden Daniels forced off the field after heavy hit. What happened?
In a clash between Heisman trophy hopefuls, it was LSU’s signal caller who came out worse for wear and not because of his performance, but a brutal hit.
With two of the top quarterbacks in college football going toe-for-toe, Saturday’s game was always going to be a thrilling affair. Sadly the latter stages of the game were overshadowed by the apparent injury and departure of LSU’s star quarterback.
LSU’s Jayden Daniels leaves game vs Alabama after heavy hit
On Saturday, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe went at it in what turned out to be an epic contest between the Tigers and Crimson Tide. Yet, it was the former who had to leave the field prematurely after taking a violent hit from Alabama’s edge rusher, Dallas Turner. It was during the fourth quarter of LSU’s 42-28 loss that Daniels took the hit for which Turner was flagged for ‘roughing the passer’ which resulted in the Tigers receiving an automatic first down. Sadly, Daniels was unable to help as he was promptly placed in concussion protocol and remained in the injury tent for the remainder of the game - roughly 11 minutes.
Regarding how the contact occurred, video clips appeared to show Turner’s helmet making full frontal contact with Daniels’, at which point LSU’s quarterback fell backward with his head seemingly bouncing off the turf as he did so. It was plain to see that Daniels remained motionless for some time before trainers came out to assess the situation, and though he briefly returned after backup Garrett Nussmeier stepped in for one play, he was finally removed and as mentioned above, spent the rest of the game in the injury tent.
The sad irony of Jayden Daniels’ injury
There’s no way to avoid the idea that prior to his departure, Daniels was in the middle of an incredible performance. With 15 of his 24 passes completed for 219 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 163 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries, he was absolutely immense. It’s worth noting that on the other side of the divide, Milroe also completed 15 passes as the two young guns combined for 756 of the 985 total yards in the game and seven of the 10 touchdowns that were scored. While LSU will now have to sweat on the status of their starting quarterback, we can at least take a moment to appreciate his performance when faced with a counterpart who is already in the Heisman conversation. Indeed, he proved that his name deserves to be in the hat as well. As LSU’s Pete Jenkins said as he walked off the field “Wow, how about those quarterbacks?”