Here’s the USC-Oregon State grades.

RESULT: NO. 13 USC 24, OREGON STATE 3.

RECORD: 7-2, 4-2.

WEEK 9 GPA: C+.

QUARTERBACK

John David Booty returned and it looked like he was off for a month with some high passes. The receivers did not help with four dropped passes. At least theres no controversy . . . this week.

C+

RUNNING BACKS

Its cause for celebration that Chauncey Washington averaged five yards a carry. But freshman Joe McKnight continues to lose yards (17) from too much sideways running. Only Reggie Bush got away with that here.

C

WIDE RECEIVERS

Theres been an incremental improvement and Patrick Turners good for one nice catch a game but the Trojans still lack a true go-to receiver and are dropping too many passes.

C-

OFFENSIVE LINE

Either USC missed Sam Baker or too many plays had Oregon States defense in the backfield too soon.

C-

DEFENSIVE LINE

Everson Griffen finally looked like the player Pete Carroll said could play in the NFL out of high school with 3.5 sacks. Everyone got into the act too. It helped the Beavers lacked star tailback Yvenson Bernard.

A

LINEBACKERS

Brian Cushing’s enjoyed one of his better games with a sack and five tackles. But Oregon State hardly had the players to really challenge this defense.

B+

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Was the man-to-man defense that responsible for shutting down Oregon States offense? If so, maybe it should have been used against Stanford. Or Oregon.

A

SPECIAL TEAMS

Is anyone else waiting for a fumble on these punt returns? The kicking games been average but as long as there are no botched plays, its all good.

C

COACHING

Before celebrating the nine sacks too much, its worth asking why USC waited nine games to play so much man-to-man defense. Trust issues, perhaps? And the offensive playcalling remained uninspired.EP

C+