LOS ANGELES — Amon-Ra St. Brown knew to take the hint.
St. Brown was running down the north sideline of the Coliseum early in the fourth quarter of USC’s 39-36 victory over Washington State on Friday night when he first caught the sound of fans’ anticipation.
“I heard the crowd go loud, so the ball must be in the air,” St. Brown said. “I looked up and the ball was right there.”
It was another glimpse of the well-established connection between quarterback JT Daniels and St. Brown, the heralded pair of freshmen from Mater Dei. Daniels’ 30-yard touchdown toss to his former high school teammate positioned the Trojans ahead at the time in the back-and-forth, high-scoring Pac-12 contest.
Through four games, St. Brown has been the favorite target for Daniels, catching 20 passes for a team-best 342 yards and two touchdowns.
But as USC snapped its two-game losing skid against Washington State, a chief reason was for the rapport Daniels had also built with his more veteran pass catchers, including Michael Pittman and Tyler Vaughns.
In flashes of their emerging chemistry, Daniels lobbed a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to Vaughns, running an end-zone fade. He also hit Pittman on a short route in the third quarter that was turned into a 50-yard touchdown. For a second consecutive week, Daniels also hit slot receiver Velus Jones on a 40-plus-yard pass.
Daniels became the first USC true freshman to throw for three touchdowns in a game, surpassing Matt Barkley, who never threw more than two, and Carson Palmer, who never had a multi-touchdown game in his first fall on campus. It was likely the best game of his short college career.
In a postgame press conference, Trojans coach Clay Helton pointed to Daniels’ connection with the rest of his receivers as the biggest sign of the young passer’s progress.
Daniels chalked it up to more playing time.
“I’ve talked about it a thousand times before,” Daniels said, “and I’ll keep saying it: It just takes practice and experience. The more time that I have with them, the better I’ll get with them.”
The challenge Daniels faces is unique, if not unprecedented. He is not only starting as a true freshman, but given little time to acclimate to college. Because he graduated from high school a year early, he did not enroll at USC until the summer, meaning he did not participate in spring practices like Barkley, the first true freshman quarterback to start a season for the Trojans.
A three-way quarterback competition also lasted beyond preseason training camp and was not officially settled until six days before the season opener against UNLV, when Daniels was announced as the starter. That meant Daniels split reps with fellow quarterbacks Matt Fink and Jack Sears throughout August practices, providing even less time to work with the starting receivers.
“I felt like that hurt us the most, not having a set guy until a week before the season,” Pittman said after the win over Washington State. “It’s hard to get timing down with three different QBs. But I feel like we’re moving in the right direction. I feel like we did a good job in practice last week, so we just gotta come back with the same thing and keep it going.”
Offensive coordinator Tee Martin noted earlier this month that the difference between the speed of receivers in practice in comparison to games differed starkly.
It was considered a sort of natural adjustment period.
“The more you play with players, the more you understand where they’re going to be with routes and everything and timing,” St. Brown said. “I think it’ll continue to get better.”
“Every week, I felt more and more confident about it,” Daniels said.
The Trojans’ win over Washington State was a much-needed step for Daniels, who had not thrown a touchdown since the season opener, and has another road test awaiting in a Week 5 matchup at Arizona.
In consecutive losses at Stanford and Texas, Daniels, who was forced to shoulder a greater burden to an ineffective run game, threw three interceptions.
He was not picked off by the Cougars and appeared far more at ease, relying on a greater core of his receivers.
Pittman remarked Daniels was increasingly more precise with his passes.
“One-on-ones, it’s really showing up,” Pittman said. “He’s really putting the ball where it needs to be. That’s making the difference.”
The Trojans, who moved to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference, have a host of issues. They have allowed more than 30 points in consecutive weeks. Their defense has struggled on third downs. Their pass rushers were unable to pressure Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew. Their running game is up and down.
But the ongoing improvement of Daniels is seemingly the last of any problems. Instead, he might be the Trojans’ best hope for success this season.
“He’s becoming more comfortable after every game,” St. Brown said. “It’s great to see him develop. It’s amazing.”
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