Washington State Vs USC: Cody Kessler to Start for Trojans Again

Oct 20, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler (6) throws a pass against the Colorado Buffaloes at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Colorado 50-6. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

It seems Lane Kiffin is still in flux about his starting quarterback and once again this week had a choice to make. Again he chose Cody Kessler, the 6’1″, 215 lbs sophomore from Bakersfield, CA over Max Wittek.

Neither Kessler nor Wittek impressed in their seasonal debuts at Hawaii. Kessler started and went a pedestrian 10-19 for 95 yards, a touchdown and a pick, while Wittek went 5-10 for 77 yards. Wittek will probably play in the game against the Cougs but it is unclear how much at this point.

Those stats combined mean the Trojans passed 29 times in the game, which is 09 more than the Cougars faced against Auburn when the Tigers went a combined 10-20. USC will likely try and run the ball against the Cougars “3-4 multiple” sets, based on their lack of efficiency last week.

Washington State gave up a combined 295 yards on the ground against Auburn, but they won’t have to worry about the extra threat out of the backfield that Nick Marshall presented and also won’t face the read option. It should be very interesting to see if the Cougs stay in their “4-down” set that they employed a good chunk in week 1. They had fairly decent success in 3rd and short situations with that look.