2 games in, and Trojans appear unbeatable

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The season has only just begun, and No. 1 Southern California appears unbeatable.

Too early, you say? Ask Ohio State.

"We played a great team tonight. They were good across the board," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said after the Trojans overpowered the 13th-ranked Buckeyes 35-3 Saturday night, turning the most anticipated September college football game in years into a mismatch.

Remember, the Buckeyes (2-1) played in the last two national championship games, and returned 18 starters this year.

The Trojans destroyed them.

Granted, Ohio State played without Chris "Beanie" Wells, sidelined with an injured right foot. But as talented as the star tailback might be, it's difficult to imagine he alone could have turned this game around.

"No one was bemoaning the fact in the locker room or on the sideline," Tressel replied when asked about Wells' absence. "We needed to be playing as good as we could possibly play with or without Beanie in USC's house."

The Trojans (2-0) have won 39 of their last 40 games at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where they'll face the meat of their schedule this year.

Home or away, who's going to beat them? The Pac-10 doesn't appear to be as strong as last year. Arizona State, Arizona, Washington State, Washington, Stanford, California and UCLA all lost nonconference games over the weekend, leaving USC and Oregon as the league's only unbeaten teams.

"This is a great win for us, but it doesn't mean any more than the others," said USC coach Pete Carroll, who led the Trojans to national titles in 2003 and '04 and came within one win of a third title in '05. "Next game is just as big with us."

The next game, on Sept. 25, is USC's Pac-10 opener at Oregon State.

USC entered the season with two major question marks: How would quarterback Mark Sanchez perform in his first year as the starter? And what about the offensive line, with only one first-stringer returning?

Sanchez has done just fine, passing for 338 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening 52-7 victory at Virginia, and 172 yards and four TDs against Ohio State. A fourth-year junior, he's certainly familiar with the system.