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Steve Sarkisian names Cody Kessler USC's starting quarterback

Steve Sarkisian names Cody Kessler USC's starting quarterback

Steve Sarkisian's first starting quarterback in his head-coaching tenure at USC isn't much of a surprise.

Tuesday, Sarkisian announced that Cody Kessler would be the Trojans' starting quarterback in 2014. Kessler was officially competing with Max Browne and Jalen Greene, though he was the only one of the three with starting experience.

"We can go out and win a lot of football games with Cody Kessler as our quarterback," Sarkisian said after practice Tuesday.

Browne was seen as Kessler's biggest competitor. He was a five-star quarterback according to Rivals and the No. 7 recruit in the country in the class of 2013.

Kessler was in a quarterback competition with Max Wittek to be USC's starter before the 2013 season. After the two split duty in the first two games of the season – a win over Hawaii and a loss to Washington State – Kessler became the team's primary quarterback. He threw for 2,968 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2013.

After the 2013 season, Wittek announced his intention to transfer. However, he still hasn't chosen a new school. Wittek is reportedly "leaning" towards Texas, though he's said he doesn't want to make a decision on a new school until May.

Wittek will have two years of eligibility at his new school. Texas QB David Ash, who missed most of 2013 because of lingering symptoms from a concussion, broke his left foot and is out for the remainder of the spring.

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Nick Bromberg

is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!