The 2023 SEC media days are underway in Nashville as coaches and players from the 14 conference programs take the stage to kick off the upcoming season. LSU, Texas A&M and Missouri participated on Monday.
The Tigers from Baton Rouge received several questions about their experience in the 2022 SEC championship loss to Georgia, including the sack by Jalen Carter in which quarterback Jayden Daniels was lifted off the ground by the eventual first-round NFL draft pick.
Jalen Carter picked Jayden Daniels up like he was a child pic.twitter.com/EbHBLfz9TB
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 3, 2022
“Jalen Carter is a great player,” Daniels said. “In the moment, I did not know what was going on. I could just feel him trying to pick me up. I tried to put pressure on my ankle and I really couldn’t,” Daniels said. “He picked me up and obviously it is a viral moment for their statement run that they made.”
No one expected LSU to make that trip to Atlanta before the season. It was Brian Kelly’s first year with a largely inexperienced Tigers’ roster and one of the toughest schedules in the conference.
For Daniels, the 50-30 loss showed him the gap between the Tigers and back-to-back national champions isn’t as big as it seems.
“I just think we were that close to winning the SEC. We were a couple plays away from competing with Georgia, the national champions,” Daniels said. “I learned that that day, Georgia was just a better team than us. You know, they won the national championship for a reason. Obviously, there’s stuff that you take from the game that you did well, stuff that you can take from the game that you did bad. But at the end of the day, Georgia was just a better team than us.”
Kelly was asked about that gap during his podium visit.
“I know that based upon how we’ve recruited and how we’ll continue to recruit that we’ll have a football roster that will be able to compete against Georgia. Is that right now? No, it’s not, but if we continue to do what we’re doing, we’re going to have a roster that can compete against Georgia. Then it’s just a matter of getting it done on the playing field so everybody then can sense they’ve closed the gap.”
The Bulldogs are clearly a measure for success for the Tigers, who repeatedly mentioned Georgia’s impressive consistency as of late.
“They bought into the process of coach Kirby Smart over there. He set the standard, you know? There’s a standard that’s set over there, and they bought into it and they follow the standard,” Daniels said. “I know a couple of people that go to Georgia. They talk about the standard that they have, how their practices go, how their workouts are. And you know, they’ve bought in. Obviously coach Smart, he wins at a high level. He’s won back-to-back national championships. Obviously, he has a recipe for winning.”
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, along with tight end Brock Bowers, center Sedrick Van Pran and cornerback Kamari Lassiter will take the stage on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. ET on The SEC Network.
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