Troy Wayrynen, AP 
TROY WAYRYNEN, AP 
One year removed from their 51-48 overtime classic, Oregon State and No. 20 Utah were at it again Thursday night. In what was almost the complete opposite of last year's contest, minus the overtime sessions, Utah rode tailback Devontae Booker to a 29-23 double-overtime road victory. Like always, let’s hand out some grades.
Offense:
To be fair to the offense and more specifically to the skill position players, I’m going to separate the offensive grade into two parts: Booker and everyone else.
The Ute offense gained a total of 315 yards in the victory. Booker had 229 of those.
Kendal Thompson started the game for the Utes at quarterback, but Travis Wilson finished it. It really didn’t matter who was under center, the results were the same: Dropped passes, stalled drives and no scoring punch.
Late in the fourth quarter, faced with a do-or-die type of drive, Utah went on a nine-play, 94-yard scoring drive to momentarily take the lead. On the drive the Utes did what they probably should have been doing the entire game — give the ball to Booker. Seven of the nine plays were Booker runs, including a 53-yard run for the Utes' first third-down conversion of the game, and a 1-yard touchdown rush.
That Booker touchdown run was the first time the Utes had found the end zone in the contest and it came with 3:35 remaining in the game, and on the 13th Utah drive.
In overtime, the Utes just kept handing it to Booker and he rewarded them by scoring twice and sealing the game for Utah.
Thompson and Wilson finished a combined 9-of-18 passing for 62 yards and they weren’t helped much by their receivers because a number of balls were dropped.
It was an ugly game for the Utah offense and without Booker who knows where this unit would be. Adjustments need to be made, but the Utes have a massive crutch in their new star running back.
Grades: Booker: A. Everyone else: D-
Defense:
While the offense struggled, the defense kept Oregon State at bay. The Utes got to Beaver QB Sean Mannion consistently throughout the game while recording five sacks. The Utah front seven terrorized the Beavers in the opening half, getting into the back field quickly and regularly, hardly allowing Oregon State plays to even develop.
As the Utah offense continued to sputter, the Ute defense was forced to spend more and more time on the field and Mannion eventually found some leaks. Aided by a tiring defense Mannion unloaded two deep strikes in the second half, including a 72-yard go-ahead touchdown toss in the fourth. For the game Mannion finished with 272 yards passing and two TDs.
In the end the Ute defense did enough to give the offense a chance to win the game, and with how the offense played that was a very admirable feat.
Grade: B+
Special Teams:
Once again the special-teams unit proved it is one the nation's elite.
Tom Hackett punted the ball seven times and pinned Oregon State inside its 20-yard line five times. The Aussie punter regularly flipped the field for the Utes averaging 43.1 yards per punt, while kicker Andy Phillips went 3-for-3 on field goals with a long of 46 yards.
The return game didn’t get much of a chance as the Beavers elected to send Kaelin Clay high, short punts to limit his game-changing return ability.
Grade: B+
Coaching:
The Utes' play-calling in the first half was, at times, head-scratching. During Utah's first few offensive series' the Utes either rushed up the middle or went for a deep ball. Now, two of those deep tosses nearly resulted in touchdowns, but it was odd given how effective Booker has been this season, even against stacked boxes.
Switching from Thompson to Wilson for the second half made sense. The offense had produced hardly anything and Wilson provided more of a threat in the passing game, and that may have brought about more holes for Booker to run through.
In the end the Ute coaches figured out Booker was by far their best offensive player was and just kept feeding him the rock, and that ultimately led to the victory.
Grade: C-
Overall:
The jury is still out on how good this Utah team is, but it must be noted that good teams figure out how to win ugly games and for the first three and a half quarters this was one ugly game. This was also a contest the 2013 Utes would have lost, and the fact Utah was able to pull out a victory should be looked at as a positive.
It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t easy, but it was a victory none the less, and in this crazy college football season, and especially in the Pac-12, that’s all that matters.
To win a conference game on the road when your quarterbacks combine for just 62 yards passing is, in its own right, very impressive. Yes, there were many negatives in the game, but even with all of them the Utes left Corvallis, Oregon, just one win away from bowl eligibility.
Grade: B-