Saturday's Top-25 College Football Summaries

Sunday, September 2nd 2007, 7:39 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ John David Booty threw three touchdown passes and the top-ranked Southern California Trojans sputtered at times while beating outmanned Idaho 38-10 for their 34th straight home win. It's the longest such active streak in the country.

Stafon Johnson scored the first two TDs of his college career. The vaunted USC defense allowed 182 yards of total offense in the first half and forced only one turnover.

The Trojans were favored by 46 points. They 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 quarter.

(3) West Virginia 62 Western Michigan 24

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) _ Pat White threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and Steve Slaton also scored four times in third-ranked West Virginia's 62-24 rout of Western Michigan.

It was the Mountaineers' highest scoring game since an 80-7 win over Rutgers in 2001, WVU coach Rich Rodriguez's first season. West Virginia improved to 5-0 against Mid-American Conference schools under Rodriguez.

Western Michigan's defense was sixth in the nation against the run last season. But it couldn't contain one of the nation's top rushing tandems. That also allowed White to thrive through the air. The junior went 10-of-18 for 192 yards. He also ran for 97 yards in improving to 16-and-2 as a starter.

Slaton, the nation's fourth-leading rusher a year ago, ran for 109 yards after being held to 21 in the opening half.

(4) Texas 21 Arkansas State 13

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Colt McCoy threw two first-quarter touchdown passes and fourth-ranked Texas stumbled through a sloppy 21-13 season-opening win over Arkansas State.

Texas did have this one wrapped up until Brandon Foster recovered an onside kick with less than a minute to play. That came after the Indians were forced to re-kick because of a penalty that negated an onsider they recovered.

Texas hopes to contend for the Big 12 and national titles, but will first have to shore up a defense that allowed Arkansas State to grind out long drives and break off big plays.

Appalachian State 34 (5) Michigan 32

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) _ Appalachian (ap-ah-LA'-chihn) State provided a stunning start to the college football season by upsetting 5th-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor 34-32.

The two-time defending national champions from the former Division I-AA got a 24-yard field goal from Julian Rauch with 26 seconds left, then blocked a 37-yard game-winning attempt by the Wolverines to preserve the upset.

It appeared Michigan would thwart the upset attempt when Mike Hart scored on a 54-yard run with 4:46 to go to give the Wolverines the lead.

After Rauch put Appalachian State ahead, Chad Henning threw a 46-yard pass to Mario Manningham to the Appalachian State 20 with 6 seconds left. But Corey Lynch blocked the field goal attempt and recovered the ball to run out the clock.

(6) Florida 49 Western Kentucky 3

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ Tim Tebow and Florida got an even easier day than expected against Western Kentucky. The Gators didn't even have to play 60 minutes.

Tebow threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score and the sixth-ranked Gators opened defense of their national championship with a 49-3 victory over Western Kentucky. The game was called with 8:23 left in the fourth quarter because of lightning.

The weather was about the only thing that stopped the Gators.

Tebow led the Gators to touchdowns in their first four possessions. He completed his first six passes for 156 yards and two TDs.

(7) Wisconsin 42 Washington State 21

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ New starting quarterback Tyler Donovan threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to help seventh-ranked Wisconsin beat Washington State 42-21.

Wisconsin trailed 14-7 late in the first quarter but scored 21 unanswered points before halftime as Donovan got hot. By then the Badgers defense began to contain Cougars quarterback Alex Brink.

Donovan completed 19-of-29 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns before sitting out midway through the fourth quarter.

(8) Oklahoma 79 North Texas 10

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Freshman DeMarco Murray became the first Oklahoma player to score five touchdowns in his debut and the eighth-ranked Sooners walloped North Texas 79-10.

Redshirt freshman Sam Bradford threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in his first start. Bradford needed only 32 seconds to notch his first career touchdown pass, a 15-yarder to tight end Jermaine Gresham.

Murray added four touchdown runs by the end of the first half.

(9) Virginia Tech 17 East Carolina 7

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ Ninth-ranked Virginia Tech had some problems getting untracked on an emotional day, but the Hokies finally put away stubborn East Carolina 17-7 in their season opener.

Ceremonies were held prior to the game to honor the 32 victims killed in the April shooting rampage on campus.

Hokies quarterback Sean Glennon went to high school with two of the victims and he said he didn't know how he'd respond after the pre-game tribute. He threw an interception, lost a fumble, was sacked four time and missed open receivers against the Pirates, who were 27 and-a-half-point underdogs.

Glennon eventually threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Sam Wheeler that gave Virginia Tech some breathing room and they held on for the win.

Wheeler had seven receptions for 81 yards.

(11) Ohio State 38 Youngstown State 6

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Todd Boeckman directed four first-half touchdown drives to lead 11th-ranked Ohio State to a 38-6 win over Youngstown State. Boeckman was impressive in his first start as the successor to Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith.

Boeckman was 17-for-23 for 225 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Youngstown State faced the Buckeyes for the first time. The Penguins were formerly a member of Division I-AA, which is now called the Football Championship Subdivision.

(12) California 45 (15) Tennessee 31

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) _ DeSean Jackson scampered 77 yards for his sixth career punt return for a touchdown and the 12th-ranked California Golden Bears avenged last season's humiliating loss to 15th-ranked Tennessee with a 45-31 win.

Justin Forsett rushed for 156 yards and a score. Nate Longshore passed for 241 yards and two TDs as the Bears racked up the most points scored against the Volunteers in 12 years.

Erik Ainge (aynj) had 271 yards passing and three TD throws for the Vols.

(13) Georgia 35 Oklahoma State 14

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) _ Thomas Brown ran for two first-quarter touchdowns, Matthew Stafford threw two second-half scoring passes and 13th-ranked Georgia shut out Oklahoma State in the second half in beating the Cowboys 35-14.

Stafford was 18-of-24 for 234 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Oklahoma State QB Bobby Reid was 16-of-30 for 191 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Reid completed a 20-yard scoring pass to Adarius Bowman in the first quarter but was held in check after that.

(14) UCLA 45 Stanford 17

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) _ Ben Olson helped UCLA spoil Jim Harbaugh's debut at Stanford.

Olson threw five TD passes and Kahlil Bell ran for a career-high 195 yards to lead the 14th-ranked Bruins to a 45-17 win in Harbaugh's first game as the Cardinal coach.

Harbaugh's imprint on Stanford's offense was evident as the Cardinal moved the ball much better than they did in a 1-and-11 season a year ago that led to Walt Harris' firing.

But Harbaugh still has a long way to go to make Stanford a winner as the defense still struggled with missed tackles and gave up 624 total yards.

(17) Penn State 59 Florida International 0

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) _ Anthony Morelli threw for three touchdowns and Penn State's defense was dominating in a 59-0 season-opening win over Florida International

Linebacker Sean Lee led the defense with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a sack.

The game marked a return of legendary coach Joe Paterno to the sidelines. The 80-year old marked the start of his record-breaking 42nd season with the Nittany Lions with his 35th season-opening victory. Paterno had to watch the final two games of last season from the press box after suffering a broken leg in a November game at Wisconsin.

(18) Auburn 23 Kansas State 13

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) _ 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 give 18th-ranked Auburn a 23-13 win over Kansas State. That ends Kansas State's 17-game win streak in season-openers.

Cox found McKenzie alone in the left corner of the end zone from the 3 to cap a 57-yard, seven-play drive.

The Wildcats got the ball back. But Quentin Groves sacked Josh Freeman, forcing a fumble that Coleman returned 34 yards for an insurance score.

(20) Nebraska 52 Nevada 10

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Marlon Lucky ran for a career-high 233 yards and three touchdowns and caught a pass for another score as 20th-ranked Nebraska routed Nevada 52-10.

The Cornhuskers rushed for 413 of their 625 total yards. They held a 35-9 halftime advantage in first downs and won their nation-leading 22nd straight season opener.

Nebraska led 21-10 at the half and broke open the game with three touchdowns and a field goal in the third quarter.

(21) Arkansas 46 Troy 26

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) _ Darren McFadden started his Heisman Trophy campaign in style, running for 151 yards and a touchdown and also throwing for a score in leading 21st-ranked Arkansas over Troy 46-26. McFadden was last year's Heisman runner-up.

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.

Freshman Alex Tejada added four field goals for Arkansas.

(22) TCU 27 Baylor 0

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ The 22nd-ranked TCU Horned Frogs shut out Baylor 27-0. It's the first of three former instate Southwest Conference rivals TCU plays in the opening month of the season.

Andy Dalton threw for 205 yards and a touchdown in his first college start. Justin Watts and Ryan Christian ran for scores as the Frogs won their ninth straight game. Chris Manfredini kicked two field goals.

The Frogs had three of their four interceptions and held Baylor to only 78 yards after halftime. Baylor had 204 yards in the first half.

(23) Hawaii 63 Northern Colorado 6

HONOLULU (AP) _ Another season, another torrid passing performance from Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan.

The Heisman hopeful produced his 15th career 400-yard passing performance in leading 23rd-ranked Hawaii over Northern Colorado 63-6. Brennan tossed four TD passes in the fourth quarter.

Brennan played just three quarters. He completed 34-of-40 for 416 yards and six TDs.

(25) Texas A&M 38 Montana State 7

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) _ Stephen McGee had 112 yards passing and added 121 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead 25th-ranked Texas A&M to a 38-7 win over Montana State.

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

McGee scored on a 65-yard run in the first quarter and made it 31-7 on a 3-yard run early in the fourth. He was replaced by backup Jerrod Johnson midway through the fourth quarter.