Freshman quarterback JT Daniels shines in first USC practice

For an hour and a half, everybody waited. The hot summer sun steadily dropped in the sky to the west of Howard Jones Field. Some parents leaned over the adjacent baseball stadium bleachers for a better view, while others watched from the sideline.

The 2018 USC football season had officially started, but nothing had actually happened. And maybe nothing would. This was just the first of 25 practices before the opener against Nevada Las Vegas, and the players were not allowed to wear pads, only helmets.

But, a little after 5:30 p.m. Friday, the Trojans started playing football — or, depending on how you feel about seven-on-seven drills, at least something resembling it. As USC’s first-team skill…