Notre Dame expecting Cody Kessler's best despite UW loss

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — USC quarterback Cody Kessler last Thursday had arguably his most ineffective game since his last trip to Notre Dame, completing 16 of 29 passes for 156 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a turgid 17-12 home loss to Washington.

It was only the second game of Kessler’s four-year career in which he threw multiple interceptions (the last was Sept. 28, 2013 against Arizona State). The 156 yards were his lowest total since Sept. 6, 2014 against Stanford, while his 55.2 percent completion rate was his lowest since Oct. 10, 2013. In a 14-10 loss at Notre Dame Oct. 19, 2013, Kessler completed 20 of 31 passes for 2014 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.

Pro Football Focus dove into Kessler’s 2015 numbers and revealed he’s only completed four of 16 pass attempts of 20 yards or more, which seems odd given his skillset and the big-play talent of receivers like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree’ Jackson.

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But Kessler still has 14 touchdowns against only three interceptions this year, and completed 25 of 32 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns as recently as a Sept. 19 loss against Stanford. Notre Dame players are still treating Kessler like one of, if not the, best quarterbacks they’ll face this year — which also has something to do with Kessler’s 32/40, 372-yard, six-touchdown torching of the Irish last November.

“His level of experience, that's big,” safety Matthias Farley said. “He has a lot of weapons around him. He has an incredible arm. He's smart. He protects the ball. He fits the ball in tight windows and he really commands and understands that offense. It's that and just him having a lot of (comfort) and experience.”

While the focus in Los Angeles is on the firing of Steve Sarkisian and offensive coordinator Clay Helton becoming the fourth USC coach to face Notre Dame in the last four years, all the off-the-field turmoil doesn’t affect the level of talent possessed by the Trojans’ skill position players. Smith-Schuster has six touchdowns and is averaging 18.8 yards on his 33 receptions, while Jackson has 10 catches for 196 yards and 319 yards on 20 kick/punt returns. Running backs Tre Madden and Ronald Jones have combined for 6.96 yards per carry, too.

With that in mind, it’s baffling how USC only managed 12 points last Thursday against a solid, but not spectacular, Washington defense last Thursday. Kessler’s inefficiency had plenty to do with it.

 

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Notre Dame players, though, are expecting the Kessler who took a flamethrower to their secondary last year to show up on Saturday. Schmidt called the senior quarterback a “dang good player,” while defensive tackle Sheldon Day said pressuring Kessler is important (Washington sacked him five times Oct. 8).

“He knows where to go with the ball,” Day said. “He doesn't make many mistakes, and it seems like he's trying to be perfect every game, so we're definitely going to try to affect him.”

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