The Trojans finally let their defense loose Saturday, and it paid off.
After running a zone defense most of the season, USC decided to play man-to-man against
Oregon State, leading to nine sacks and an interception.
Every single USC player blitzed at least once - a far cry from the conservative play-calling on defense the Trojans have been using this season.
Now, if only the offense could take note of the aggressive play-calling.
For just about every thing the USC defense did right on Saturday, the offense did something wrong.
Again there were penalties, suspect play-calling, missed throws and dropped balls.
Once again this season, the Trojans relied on their defense to get them through a shaky offensive game.
But the Trojans proved they don't need much offense as long as the defense plays like it did in the 24-3 win over Oregon State.
It might turn out to be the blueprint for the Trojans to win the rest of their games - dominate defensively and score just enough without turning the ball over.
"I think this is a formula for us," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We have to play off our defense and continue to do well with the football on offense, and we can beat anybody."
The Trojans protected the ball well but did have one turnover on quarterback John David Booty's fumble, which led to Oregon State's only points of the game.
And while the defense certainly didn't take off any plays, it seemed like the offense took off entire quarters.
The Trojans struggled early with Booty overthrowing receivers, and then, in the third quarter, USC had just one first down en route to a scoreless second half.
Booty threw for only 157 yards and clearly looked rusty after missing the previous three games because of a broken finger.
Carroll said Booty needs to play better regardless of the rust.
"The thing I got to figure out is if he was knocking off the rust after a month or is he still not throwing the ball as well as we need," Carroll said. "I'm still not sure about that right now, but he could tell."
Booty said he knew he had a subpar night in his return.
"As far as the mental aspect, I felt sharp and was doing the right things," Booty said. "On the physical side, some got away from me that I wish I could have back. We probably should have had five or seven balls completed that I threw a little high or they were dropped."
The drops continued to plague the Trojans again. There were at least three balls that were dropped by USC receivers that would have led to first downs.
"I thought we really missed our chances with catching the football tonight," Carroll said. "It wasn't all catches because John was high with the ball."
But it wasn't just Booty and the receivers' fault that the Trojans struggled offensively.
There was some suspect play calls such as several running plays on third-and-long situations, which elicited boos from some fans. The Trojans need to open it up more, especially if Booty's finger is healed, which he says it is.
They can no longer use the excuse that they are playing with their backup quarterback.
The running game also needs to be more consistent. It never quite got going against the nation's No. 1 rush defense, as USC averaged just 2.8 yards per rush, but Carroll attributed it to playing against a great defense.
"We thought this was the best defense we've seen this year," Carroll said.
But Carroll could've said the same thing about his defense. It's just too bad he can't say it about his offense.
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