Will Cody Kessler Break the USC Touchdown Record?

Cody Kessler is a statistical wizard at quarterback, as he had his way with the USC football record books last fall including school-highs for passer rating and completion percentage.RELATED: 5 USC Football Records That Could Break in 2015

But without his favorite target Nelson Agholor, will the Trojan signal caller improve his touchdown total as a senior in 2015?

Kessler tied Matt Barkley’s school record of 39 last season. While that’s a big total in what was a solid junior season, the narrative can be spun that the vast majority of those came against inferior opponents.

It’s true. Sixteen of those scores came against the Pac-12 teams with the three worst defensive passer ratings. Just three touchdowns came against the three best conference foes in that same category that USC faced: No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 Oregon State and No. 5 UCLA.

So if the Trojans’ offense is to improve in 2015, they aree going to have to do so by being more consistent in the passing game, culminating in touchdowns. If they do, Kessler could hit the 40-TD mark and set a new record.

Will it ring true? Our staff at Reign of Troy offered some over/under picks on Kessler’s touchdown total, expanding on our game by game predictions, which were posted on Tuesday. Here’s what we had to say:

O/U 39 Touchdowns for Cody Kessler:

Alicia de Artola: Under

Michael Castillo: OverOverall, Cody Kessler’s stats will likely not look as pristine as they were a year ago. He’s likely to take more chances as a senior in Steve Sarkisian’s offense and he’ll have playmakers to try and trust despite losing Nelson Agholor. But while that will likely lower his completion percentage and passer rating, USC’s big-play ability is improved this year, supporting the idea that he’ll find the end zone with more regularity.

Max Meyer: Over

Nick Cox: Under

Trenise Ferreira: OverJuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree’ Jackson are two reasons to make Cody Kessler to throw more this year.

Nick Conley: Under

Dustin Jacobs: Under

Will Cody Kessler throw 40 touchdowns in 2015?

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