LOS ANGELES — As expected, No. 1 Southern California began the season with a one-sided victory. It could hardly be called a memorable performance.

John David Booty threw three touchdown passes, Stafon Johnson scored the first two TDs of his college career, and the top-ranked Trojans sputtered at times while beating outmanned Idaho, 38-10, for their 34th straight victory at home dating to 2001 — the longest such active streak in the country.

"There's a lot of areas we can do better on," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "I didn't think that we took advantage of our really nice opportunities. We had some shots at guys and didn't hit them.

"I'm pleased to get this first game behind us. I'm happy that we won a game, and let's get to work for the next one. We know we have a very difficult matchup in two weeks."

After taking next weekend off, the Trojans figure to get a much stiffer test Sept. 15 when they travel to face No. 20 Nebraska, a 52-10 winner over Nevada yesterday.

The crowd of 90,917 at the Los Angeles Coliseum got restless on occasion, and there were some boos following USC's second straight punt late in the second quarter. The vaunted USC defense allowed 182 yards of total offense in the first half and forced only one turnover.

"I felt like we didn't shut the run down like we should have," Carroll said. "I'm really disappointed we turned the ball over three times. The turnover thing is always going to be the No. 1 issue for us. This was not a good night in that area."

Favored by 46 points, the Trojans scored touchdowns on their first three possessions before being outgained in the second period. Then, they scored 17 points while holding Idaho without a first down in the third quarter to make it a runaway. Reserves played most of the final period.

USC entered the season with a 59-6 record during the past five years, and was ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason poll for the third time in four years.

Idaho was just 14-45 during the last five seasons, and Robb Akey is the Vandals' third coach in three years. Akey spent the past eight years as an assistant at Washington State.

"We had bodies where they belonged all night, but we were not making the plays," Akey said. "I'm excited about some of the things we did tonight. We did not win, so we can't get too carried away with this effort."

Booty completed 21 of 32 passes for 206 yards with one interception before coming out of the game for good late in the third quarter. C.J. Gable gained 68 yards on eight carries and Johnson, who had only three carries as a freshman last year, picked up 64 yards on 12 attempts.

"We had times where we played like we expected to play, and times there where we played like we don't want to play," Booty said. "The big thing is that we got our first win. I felt like we stopped ourselves at times."

The Trojans played without Patrick Turner, their leading returning receiver.

"He got a stinger in practice during the week," Carroll said. "He's just not back to full strength yet."

Idaho's Nathan Enderle was 16 of 34 for 155 yards, and Deonte Jackson gained 99 yards on 22 carries. Both are redshirt freshman.

"This experience was way different than anything I'd seen before," Enderle said. "I liked it. I love coming here with the big crowd. We felt them giving us energy. We need to work on our red-zone play; we seemed to stall out every time we got near their goal."

NO. 3 WEST VIRGINIA 62, WESTERN MICHIGAN 24

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Junior Pat White threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, and Steve Slaton scored four times as the host Mountaineers hammered the Broncos.

White completed 10 of 18 passes for 192 yards. He also ran for 97 yards in improving to 16-2 as a starter. Slaton ran for 109 yards as the Mountaineers broke the game open with two scores in a 1:15 span early in the third quarter.

NO. 4 TEXAS 21, ARKANSAS STATE 13

AUSTIN, Texas — Colt McCoy threw two first-quarter touchdown passes and the Longhorns stumbled through a sloppy season-opening win over the Indians, narrowly avoiding yet another huge upset on the day.

The Longhorns were overwhelming favorites but didn't have this one wrapped up until Brandon Foster recovered an onside kick with less than a minute to play, and that came after the Indians were forced to re-kick because of a penalty that negated an onsider they recovered.

NO. 6 FLORIDA 49, WESTERN KENTUCKY 3

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tim Tebow threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score, and the Gators opened defense of their national championship with a rout of the Hilltoppers in a game called with 8:23 left because of lightning.

Tebow, making his first career start, led Florida to touchdowns in its first four possessions. He completed his first six passes for 156 yards and two TDs.

NO. 7 WISCONSIN 42, WASHINGTON STATE 21

MADISON, Wis. — New starting quarterback Tyler Donovan threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, helping the Baders rally from a 14-7 deficit with 21 unanswered points for a 28-14 halftime lead in beating the Cougars.

Donovan, a fifth-year senior, was given the starting job by coach Bret Bielema only 10 days ago. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 284 yards, including two TD passes to wide receiver Luke Swan.

NO. 8 OKLAHOMA 79, NORTH TEXAS 10

NORMAN, Okla. — Freshman DeMarco Murray became the first Oklahoma player to score five touchdowns in his debut, and redshirt freshman Sam Bradford threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in his first start.

Oklahoma ended up with its most lopsided win in a season opener since it beat New Mexico State 73-3 to start the 1989 season and its second-highest point total since 1919.

NO. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 17, EAST CAROLINA 7

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Getting off to a sluggish start in what figures to be an emotionally charged season, the Hokies struggled to beat the Pirates, 4 1/2 months after the worst mass shooting in modern American history occurred on the Virginia Tech campus.

East Carolina, a 27 1/2-point underdog that didn't have its No. 1 quarterback, actually led until Victor Harris returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first half to give the Hokies a 10-7 lead.

NO. 11 OHIO STATE 38, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 6

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Todd Boeckman played well in his first start replacing Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith, completing 17 of 23 passes for 225 yards and two 1-yard TDs, leading the Buckeyes over the Penguins.

Ohio State's Jim Tressel was the coach at Youngstown State for 15 years and led the Penguins to four I-AA championships before taking over the Buckeyes in 2001.

NO. 12 CALIFORNIA 45, NO. 15 TENNESSEE 31

BERKELEY, Calif. — DeSean Jackson scampered 77 yards for his sixth career punt return for a touchdown, and the Golden Bears avenged last season's humiliating loss to the Volunteers.

Justin Forsett rushed for 156 yards and a score, and Nate Longshore passed for 241 yards and two TDs as the Bears racked up the most points scored against the Volunteers in 12 years to win the opening weekend's only matchup between ranked schools.

NO. 13 GEORGIA 35, OKLAHOMA STATE 14

ATHENS, Ga. — Thomas Brown ran for two first-quarter touchdowns, Matthew Stafford threw two second-half scoring passes and the Bulldogs shut out the Cowboys in the second half.

Stafford, a sophomore beginning his first full season as the starting quarterback, was 18 of 24 for 234 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

NO. 14 UCLA 45, STANFORD 17

STANFORD, Calif. — Ben Olson threw five touchdown passes and Kahlil Bell ran for a career-high 195 yards as the Bruins spoiled Jim Harbaugh's first game as the Cardinal coach.

Olson's cool efficiency in his return to the starting lineup and 20 returning starters for the Bruins were too much for the emotion-fueled Cardinal, who tried to match the high energy level of their new coach.

NO. 17 PENN STATE 59, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 0

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Anthony Morelli threw for three touchdowns and a career-high 295 yards, linebacker Sean Lee led a furious defense with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a sack as the Nittany Lions welcomed Joe Paterno back to the sidelines with a rout of the Golden Panthers.

The 80-year-old Paterno made his first appearance back on the sidelines since breaking his left leg last year at Wisconsin.

NO. 18 AUBURN 23, KANSAS STATE 13

AUBURN, Ala. — Brandon Cox threw a touchdown pass to Gabe McKenzie with 2:01 remaining and Antonio Coleman returned a fumble for a score moments later to rally the Tigers over the Wildcats.

Auburn's offense struggled all night, Cox — who spent most of the game on his back or trying to escape pressure — found McKenzie alone in the left corner of the end zone from the 3 to cap a 57-yard, seven-play drive for a 16-13 lead.

NO. 21 ARKANSAS 46, TROY 26

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Darren McFadden started his Heisman Trophy campaign in style, running for 151 yards and a touchdown and also throwing for a score as the Razorbacks beat the Trojans.

McFadden, last year's Heisman runner-up, helped the Razorbacks pull away in the third quarter. Arkansas led only 23-17 at halftime, but Felix Jones scored on a 44-yard run and McFadden tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Crosby Tuck to make it 37-17.

NO. 22 TCU 27, BAYLOR 0

FORT WORTH, Texas — Andy Dalton threw for 205 yards and a touchdown in his first college start, and Justin Watts and Ryan Christian ran for scores as the Horned Frogs routed the Bears for their ninth straight victory.

TCU's defense that ranked in the top three nationally in total defense, rushing and scoring last season, had three of its four interceptions and held Baylor to only 78 yards after halftime. Baylor had 204 yards in the first half.

NO. 25 TEXAS A&M 38, MONTANA STATE 7

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Stephen McGee had 112 yards passing and added 121 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead the Aggies past the Bobcats.

The Bobcats scored first but the Aggies scored 38 straight points to improve to 5-0 in home openers under coach Dennis Franchione.