LAS VEGAS - They have dealt with reality attacks for as long as they’ve been at USC.
Their whole careers have been one big false-start penalty.
Probation. Restrictions. The musical-chair coaches.
The long, aching, losing plane rides home.
So, after they won their 10th game Saturday, there was no room in their heads for speculation. They weren’t ready to think about how easily they might have won 12.
But they will.
Cody Kessler, who did not start until the third game and was not liberated until the sixth, hit Fresno State with four touchdowns in the first half and wound up 22 for 30, with 1 interception and 1 sack.
Buck Allen, so deep on the USC chart that he needed scuba equipment, rampaged again, lunging for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
Marqise Lee, the Heisman candidate who was ignored early in the year and hobbled in the middle, caught 7 passes for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a glorious fastball from Kessler, between two Bulldogs, back when Fresno State had visions of winning.
Those visions were replaced by images of Trojans rising in 2014, a season they will open against Fresno State.
This restorative 45-20 victory in the Las Vegas Bowl made the Trojans 10-4, and allows them to spend New Year’s watching inferior teams play in superior bowls.
“This guy [Kessler] is an absolute gym rat,” said Clay Helton, who jokingly described himself as a “third-string head coach” but stands to become the offensive coordinator either at USC or Florida next year.
“We worked on three things with Cody this year: Decision-making, accuracy and timing. Because if you get the ball out early to a guy like Marqise Lee and do it on time, he can take an ‘in route’ to the house. Cody has done a great job. Anybody is going to get better when you get more reps in practice.”
Except Lane Kiffin couldn’t make up his mind between Kessler and Max Wittek in the first two games, playing them both. Kessler got the start in Game 3, but the tight leash was suffocating.
Since Helton became the play-caller, Kessler threw three interceptions in nine games.
Against Fresno State he ignored the rush of the team with the most sacks in the FBS, and he showed a little wiggle when he faked out linebacker Kyle Mickelsen and picked up a first down.
“This one is due 100 percent to our offensive line,” Kessler said. “They watched so much tape, and [center] Abe Markowitz and [guard] John Martinez did a great job stepping in. But our defense was unbelievable. I know firsthand from playing against them in practice.”
“Cody, in the huddle, is everything a leader should be,” said Kevin Graf, the fifth-year senior tackle.
Allen, voted the team MVP even though he had only 10 carries in the first five games, has 12 touchdowns in his past six games. Injuries to Justin Davis and Silas Redd got him into the rotation, but it’s incomprehensible that no one knew his name.
“I just think our football team improved when we started playing for each other instead of as individuals,” Kessler said.
Sports, Pages 16 on 12/23/2013