USC is No. 1 . . . in defense
USC FOOTBALL
The Trojans give up just 9.4 points per game, and could improve on that against punchless Washington State.
USC must continue to win and hope higher-ranked teams lose for the Trojans to ascend to No. 1 in the polls and, perhaps eventually, the Bowl Championship Series standings.
But USC already sits at No. 1 in at least one national category: scoring defense.
The Trojans, coming off their 28-0 victory over Arizona State, are giving up only 9.4 points per game, a figure that could very well drop after Saturday's game at Washington State.
The struggling Cougars rank 116th in scoring offense among the 119 Bowl Subdivision teams, averaging 15.9 points a game, and will be without quarterback Marshall Lobbestael, who will miss the rest of the season after sustaining torn knee ligaments in Saturday's 66-13 loss to Oregon State.
Washington State is 114th in total offense (274.4 yards a game), 111th in rushing offense (97.6 yards a game).
"They've had so many injuries, it's hard to tell who you're going to play against," USC Coach Pete Carroll said. "We might not know until we get to game time."
Lobbestael was a third-stringer who was starting because of injuries to Gary Rogers and Kevin Lopina. The Cougars' top two running backs, Christopher Ivory (hamstring) and Dwight Tardy (knee), did not play against Oregon State, either.
Lopina or freshman J.T. Levenseller could start at quarterback against the Trojans.
gary.klein@latimes.com
