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Texas Football: 5 best QB’s Steve Sarkisian ever coached

By Andrew Miller

Mac Jones, Steve Sarkisian, Texas Football Mandatory Credit: Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via USA TODAY Sports
Mac Jones, Steve Sarkisian, Texas Football Mandatory Credit: Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via USA TODAY Sports /
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Cody Kessler (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Cody Kessler (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Cody Kessler

The ability of Sark to make the most of skill position talent in the open field really started to hit the forefront when he was a coordinator/positional coach with USC, originally under legendary head coach Pete Carroll. USC was one of the nation’s most dominant programs throughout the 2000s. Texas was one of the few dents in USC in the mid-2000s too.

But the first quarterback up on this list was at the helm for Sark and the Trojans in the 2010s, after the end of the Carroll tenure. The 6-foot-1 and 215-pound Cody Kessler played quarterback at USC from 2012-2015. Sark was the head coach at USC for two of the years for Kessler.

And those just so happened to be two of the most productive years for Kessler during his time at USC. In 2014 and 2015, Kessler registered just shy of 7,500 passing yards, 68 passing touchdowns, just 12 interceptions, and six rushing touchdowns.

Kessler specifically commanded an offense in 2014 that was extremely well-balanced and had a ton of skill position talent. Wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Juju Smith-Schuster led the way for USC in the passing game, with nearly more than 2,000 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. Running back Javorious Allen flanked the passing game with nearly 1,500 rushing yards and 11 rushing scores.

An offense that ranked in the top 25 in the country in points per game (35.8), total yards per game (457.6), and yards per play (6.1), was orchestrated by the likes of Sark and Kessler in 2014. But three narrow losses to decent top 25 teams in the Utah Utes and UCLA Bruins, along with the Boston College Eagles, doomed USC in 2014 as a national contender.

That doesn’t takeaway from the tremendous statistical season that Kessler had in 2014.

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