Daniels and Frazier Have Trust Built Through Trio of Games

WVU's inherited Air Raid offense relies heavily on two men: a born and bred West Virginian and a brand spanking new, Mountain State transplant.

Now, they're a pair solidifying the 2022 West Virginia Mountaineers' offensive impact.

Center Zach Frazier and QB JT Daniels.

Frazier, now in his sophomore season, has worked with half a dozen different quarterbacks during his time in the gold and blue, but something rings differently in this season's first three games.

Through Austin Kendall, Jarret Doege, Will Crowder, Garrett Greene, Nicco Marchiol, and JT Daniels, Frazier has stayed consistent. He's put in the work and snapped the ball into waiting hands for 26 games. Only three games into a revamped offense, Frazier and his newly-established QB1 has already built rapport.

Daniels, in his fifth year of eligibility, feels a connection to Frazier, and the duo has already taken 103 snaps together. Six touchdowns, 753 passing yards, and 609 rushing yards are combined through a trio of games. The two have the process down to non-verbals, and Daniels says that he gives Frazier complete control.

"Zach always makes the first ID, which is pretty much how it is everywhere nowadays," Daniels said of the seconds pre-snap. "Centers are smart enough, and Zach's one of the best. Very smart. He always makes the first ID and then he asks me some huddle questions because I change protections. I have full control over it, so Zach asks me a lot when we're talking. He'll ask me what I see and why I changed it to get the right protection."

That mutual respect and concise communication have built throughout Fall Camp; offensive coordinator Graham Harrell spoke in-depth about the cohesion his team has up front.

"If you want to check something or we have something in that we need to get into or out of, that's really easy for [Daniels]," Harrell said. "I think a lot of that is his natural personality. He wants information. He's an intelligent kid. He probably understands protections better than any top college quarterback out there. He has a lot of experience with it. He understands it.

"He and Frazier kind of work together on that. Every now and then, you'll see Frazier turn around and look at him like, 'What do you want to do here?' Most of the time, Frazier's making a lot of the calls that JT kind of adjusts off of. It's kind of an interesting look of how they communicate together, just so they're both on the same page, and that helps. You have two really intelligent football players trying to get everyone lined up and get you going on the right thing... The way those two work together, getting us out of bad plays and into good plays, that makes our jobs as coaches a lot easier."

Following last week's 65-7 victory over Towson, head coach Neal Brown awarded Frazier the "Offensive Lineman of the Week" honor for his work on the game's 56 plays. Frazier has compiled 17 knockdown blocks thus far, including six against the Tigers, and his offensive line has held Daniels' sacks to five. As the team's 10th most experienced player, Frazier is one of 14 who has started each game this season. Daniels is right there with him.

The duo is fully prepared for improvement as the remaining opponents become progressively more difficult to hold off.

"We've protected pretty well, but I think JT has done a great job of moving in the pocket even when, you know, sometimes some of us do get beat," Frazier said. "He'll step up, avoid it, make a throw downfield, and make us look good too."

"We have to control the line of scrimmage," Daniels said. "It frees up the entire offense. If you don't control the line of scrimmage, you're fighting an uphill battle."

Daniels, Frazier, and the rest of the offensive line will need to outperform a 2-1 Virginia Tech team on Thursday, but neither seems particularly on edge by diversified opposing talent.

The two have their groove and timing down pat, and the remainder of this season will likely focus on the minutiae that brings this 1-2 Mountaineer team back into a winning streak.

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