USC Shuts Down Oregon State, 24 - 3

We'll take it . . . that's what everyone was saying as they left the Coliseum after the Trojans dispatched of the Oregon St. Beavers 24 - 3. It wasn't perfect, but it felt good to see the Trojans win convincingly for a change as the game was over by halftime.

Oregon St. was not a team to be taken lightly, even if they were missing a key to their offense (RB Yveson Bernard). And the Trojans didn't underestimate them, coming out aggressively defensively and avoiding killer mistakes on offense to start the "November Run" with a much needed victory.

Here's how the Trojans graded out:

Offense:

QB - The return of QB Booty to the offense was mixed. With (2) TD passes and no INTs, it represented exactly what the offense had to do. But he did have a fumble, and the offense scored zero points in the second half on a few missed opportunities to score, including one over-throw by Booty. Grade: C minus

RBs/FB - CWashington ran very well for 60 yards, and scored a TD on a screen play that we thought would work against OSU's heavy rush. SJohnson didn't get as many carries as thought, but he was productive. Joe McKnight got the most carries and had quite a few negative yards, while SHavili is really struggling with dropped passes. Grade: B minus

WRs/TE - This unit had another up and down night. FDavis and VHazleton had 5 catches apiece, and Turner came down with a nice TD catch. Once again, however, there were some dropped passes and sloppy routes running during the game. Grade: C minus

OLine - This unit did the job against a very aggressive pass rushing and run stopping Beaver defense. They only gave up two sacks, and one of those was QB Booty's fault. And 100 yards rushing may not seem like much, but its double what the Beavs normally give up. So they can improve, but the running holes were apparent for CWashington many times. Grade: B

Defense:

DLine - Well, we posted before the game that this group could pitch a shut out . . . and they almost did. A great game for the DLine as EGriffen dominated his man for (3.5) sacks. The rest of the group helped to hold the Beavs to less than 100 yards rushing and passing. Grade: A

LBs - Solid game from this unit. They jumped in on the sack parade, and really only had one bad play - missed tackles on a 50 yard run on OSU's first possession. Cushing, Rivers and Maualuga combined for 17 tackles, while TWilliams was particularly active with a sack and a broken up pass. Grade: B

DBs - Ask for an INT . . . and ye shall receive one. CB Terrell Thomas jumped a pass route for an INT and led a DB unit that contributed to a total of (8) broken up passes. And it was good to see CB Shareece Wright playing at full strength again. Grade: B+

Special Teams - DBuehler missed a long FG attempt, but nailed another. The punting needs to improve under Woidneck - 36 ypp - and he can't seem to nail one inside the 10 yard line. The return game was solid.

Grade: C

Coaching - SC's gameplan offensively was good for the Beavs' very aggressive front (7). Missed opportunities in the form of dropped passes and overthrows, though, caused SC to put up a goose egg in the second half. However, they need to run more sweeps with McKnight and Johnson, because they pick up 8 - 10 yards almost every time they do. The defensive plan was executed nearly flawlessly. They took advantage of OSU QB Canfield's slow reads with man coverage by the DBs - and that allowed the SC's front seven to get pressure to the tune of 9 sacks.

Grade: B

Game Balls:

* Offense - RB Chauncey Washington

* Defense - CB Terrell Thomas and DE Everson Griffen

* Special Teams - KR Ronald Johnson

Prediction Winner - Payback (the dude is on a roll)