The image is out there now for USC fans to hold onto: JT Daniels wearing the cardinal No. 18 jersey, a giant tattoo of the Trojan logo and the Coliseum on his right calf, throwing for more yards in his debut than has any other USC quarterback. There is no more build-up, only the hope for more of whatever moxie he brought to that fourth quarter against Nevada Las Vegas.
But to comprehend how an 18-year-old showed such poise in his first college game leading a storied program, you have to take a step back in time to the turn of the new year, where there’s another image stored in USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin’s memory:
Daniels, still a high-school junior, lugging his backpack full of books for his 11 classes into the McKay Center to watch film of the Trojans’ offense.