Kessler’s record season unnoticed


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It’s not often that a quarterback completes nearly 70 percent of his passes, throws 39 touchdowns to just five interceptions, racks up nearly 4,000 yards and still goes as unnoticed as Cody Kessler. Those were Kessler’s numbers last season when his team went 9-4, so Kessler flying under the radar could be attributed to him being on a mediocre team with a first-year head coach. But this season, Kessler leads the nation with 15 touchdowns against FBS opponents and has only thrown one interception on the season.

Heading into the season, the Trojans were ranked No. 8 and then moved up to No. 6 after wins against Arkansas State and Idaho, but dropped to              No. 19 after a loss to Stanford. The Trojans’ play as a whole was disappointing against Stanford, but Kessler’s, in particular, was not. Unfortunately for Kessler, he seems to be an underrated quarterback on an overrated team.

In this season’s lone loss, Kessler completed 78 percent of his passes and threw for three touchdowns. At that point, he still hadn’t thrown an interception. He managed to put up 31 points, which should’ve been enough to keep his team in the game. In fact, it was the defense, which allowed Kevin Hogan and the Cardinal to put up 41 points, that really lost the game for the Trojans. Still, Kessler took a lot of the blame for his team’s loss.

Kessler and the Trojans entered last week’s game against Arizona State facing a         must-win situation and they delivered with a 42-14 win over their Pac-12 South rivals, who many thought had a chance to come out on top of the Pac-12 South.

Kessler threw an early interception at the goal line, his first of the season, but bounced back with five touchdown passes for 375 yards. His longest touchdown of the night registered at 80 yards. And yet still, somehow, people have decided that Arizona State lost the game more than USC really won it. And I don’t entirely disagree with that notion, though I think anyone who puts up five touchdown passes deserves a little credit.

Kessler’s Heisman chances certainly took a hit with USC’s loss to Stanford, but his personal statistics did not. He has a great supporting cast around him on offense, an offense that has for the most part looked explosive. Sophomore Adoree’ Jackson has even said that he has his sights set on winning a Heisman of his own, and he absolutely could. Sophomore wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has put up incredible numbers to match Kessler’s, so there is certainly no shortage of talent or production on the offensive side.

Before the season started, the media was high on the Trojans, but it didn’t take much for them to change their minds. One loss to a Pac-12 rival and the Trojans dropped 13 spots. Alabama lost to fellow SEC team Ole Miss and was still ranked ahead of teams with no losses.

Aside from UCLA, the rest of the Pac-12 does not look as strong holistically. This also hurts Kessler. The fact that an SEC team can lose and still be as highly regarded as Alabama just goes to show the way the SEC is favored over the Pac-12.

Kessler’s Heisman hopes are not completely tarnished, but he’ll definitely have to win out and continue putting up big numbers to beat out his opponents in the SEC and Big 12. He’ll need big performances from his team, and he’ll absolutely have to beat Josh Rosen on Nov. 28.

Regan Estes is a junior majoring in public relations and Spanish. She is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column “Wild Wild Westes,” runs Tuesdays.