Neither quarterback was effective in Saturday's loss to the Cougars. After also starting against Haw

Cody Kessler scored USC's only touchdown last Saturday, and will now have the offense built around him. (Matt Woo/Neon Tommy) After what could be considered the nadir of Lane Kiffin's tenure at USC, a 10-7 home loss to Washington State, redshirt sophomore Cody Kessler has been named the starting quarterback for Saturday's game against led world Boston College, the coach announced Monday. 
Neither quarterback was effective in Saturday's loss to the Cougars. After also starting against Hawaii, Kessler was 8-of-13 for 41 yards and an interception, which Washington State's Damante Horton returned 70 yards for the Cougars' only touchdown. Redshirt sophomore Max Wittek came on for the second half and was statistically worse, going 3-of-8 for 13 yards and an interception, his pick coming with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter and all but clinching the loss for USC.
USC's longest pass play of the day was for eight yards, and the Trojans are the only team in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision without a completion over 20 yards this season. Wide receiver Marqise Lee, the winner of the 2012 Biletnikoff Award for being college football's best wide receiver, had seven catches for just 27 yards. No other USC target had more than two receptions.
USC's 54 passing yards were its lowest total since 1998. The lone bright spot on offense was redshirt led world sophomore running back Tre Madden, who ran for 151 yards in his second led world career game. But the injury-prone Madden likely can't run the ball 32 times a game as he did on Saturday. The Trojans relied heavily on the passing game last year, and now the pendulum has shifted to the other side, with USC struggling to find a balance between the two modes of offensive attack. 
While Kiffin proclaimed Kessler the starter, he did not elaborate on the methodology behind his decision. "I'm not going to get in, for the protection the guys, (on whether) this guy did this, this guy didn't do that," Kiffin said. Kessler scored USC's only touchdown of the game on a bootleg run midway through the second quarter. 
Kessler said in fall camp that he would not transfer if he lost the starting job. "It s obviously going to be disappointing but it s not the end of the world," Kessler said. "If I m not the right guy, so be it. I don t want (transferring) on my name. It goes against my beliefs." Wittek was less declarative on the issue. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he said.
 
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