UNLV hopes to get USC freshman QB out of comfort zone

UNLV quarterback Armani Rogers remembers what it’s like to be a teenager getting ready to take his first college football snap, how the speed at that level took some getting used to.

“It’s a big difference,” Rogers said Monday of having a year of experience. “You know what to expect. You know defenses. You know how to watch film. Just a lot of different type of preparing from what I did last year to what I do now, and it’s being more mature and understanding how the speed is from high school to college.”

Rogers is the rugged veteran this week, at least compared to his Southern California counterpart.

The 15th-ranked Trojans named 18-year-old JT Daniels their starting quarterback for Saturday’s 1 p.m. season opener against UNLV at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Daniels was a hotshot high school recruit from nearby Mater Dei, who just last year led the Monarchs to a 35-21 victory over then-No. 3 Bishop Gorman. He passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns in ending the Gaels’ 55-game winning streak.

The postseason honors racked up for Daniels, who passed for 4,123 yards and 52 touchdowns, with only four interceptions. In leading Mater Dei to the mythical national title, he was named Gatorade National Player of the Year.

Daniels graduated a year early and signed with USC. He was named the starter on Sunday.

“It will be interesting to see how they use him,” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said. “Are they going to run their stuff and throw the ball around the yard, or are they going to try to protect him a little bit and run the football? He’s a great player. That’s why he’s at USC, one of the top recruited guys in the country. But he is a freshman and it is college football, so the game’s going to be a little bit faster.

“They practice at such a fast pace, and (USC) coach (Clay) Helton does such a great job of developing quarterbacks. He’ll be ready, but he’s still young, and there’s still a little bit of a learning curve.”

The Rebels hope they can make the rookie quarterback uncomfortable by “sacking him, getting pressure on him, getting hits on him, giving him different types of looks,” UNLV linebacker Gabe McCoy said.

Rogers was similarly green in his first start as a redshirt freshman a year ago, but at 19 was a little older. Still, his inexperience was evident as the Rebels found themselves in a tough game from the beginning at Sam Boyd Stadium against Football Championship Series member Howard.

Rogers, the eventual Mountain West Freshman of the Year, showed plenty of promise in throwing for 220 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 82 yards, but 45-point underdog Howard emerged with a 43-40 victory.

Now it’s UNLV’s opponent, 26-point favorite USC, that carries the burden of heavy expectations into the opening weekend. And it’s the Rebels who are a more experienced team than the one that began last season.

“I think last year had more to do with the youthfulness of Armani and some different guys,” Sanchez said. “We’re so far past where we were a year ago as far as what we’re doing and our understanding of it.”

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.