Carolina Can’t Beat Rams, Sell Out Opener : NFC: Only 54,060 in 76,000-seat Clemson stadium see St. Louis improve to 3-0.

The Carolina Panthers keep playing like what they are--an expansion team. The St. Louis Rams are playing like anything but what they are--the NFL’s youngest team.

The Rams spoiled Carolina’s inaugural home game Sunday by forcing seven turnovers and converting four of those into 24 points on the way to a 31-10 victory.

“I know we’re young and everything, but we’re making the plays when we have to, and it’s hard to ignore that,” said St. Louis cornerback Todd Lyght, who had one of the Rams’ five interceptions. “People are going to start taking notice that we’re getting the job done, and they’re going to start realizing that we can be a force in this league.”

A crowd of 54,060 watched the game in the 76,000-seat Memorial Stadium on the campus of Clemson University, about 145 miles from Charlotte.

Carolina linebacker Sam Mills said it wouldn’t have made any difference if the team had sold out Memorial Stadium, which is serving as the Panthers’ home this year while their permanent facility is finished in Charlotte.

“I think if we had caused some turnovers and not turned the ball over ourselves, that maybe would have had something to do with it,” he said, shaking his head. “But the fans didn’t have anything to do with it. They were great, but unfortunately, we weren’t.”

The Rams are 3-0 for the first time since 1989, which also was the last year the franchise made the playoffs.

“Once again the defense was the kick-start that we needed,” first-year Coach Rich Brooks said. “There’s some good things happening with this team, and all we have to do is stay focused on what we need to do to take this jump-start and make the rush that I think we’re capable of making.”

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was on hand to see the Panthers fall to 0-3.

“I think we played our sloppiest game today, and we played against a good defense,” Coach Dom Capers said.

The Rams, whose average age of 25.4 makes them the youngest team in the league, came in with the top turnover-producing defense in the NFC. St. Louis, which has not turned over the ball, now has intercepted nine passes and recovered three fumbles.

Carolina fans, instead of seeing their new team get its first victory, saw something else for the first time: the makings of a quarterback controversy. Ineffective starter Frank Reich was replaced in the second quarter by Jack Trudeau. But Trudeau, like Reich, was unable to generate any solid drives behind the Panthers’ inexperienced line.

Capers said he would have to look at films before committing to Reich or Trudeau as his starter for the Panthers’ Oct. 1 game against Tampa Bay.

Late in the third quarter, chants of “Kerry! Kerry!” began to build throughout the stands. With 5:45 left in the game, top draft pick Kerry Collins entered the game--and was intercepted on his first play by Torin Dorn, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown.

Collins later led the Panthers on a 76-yard drive that he ended with a one-yard sneak with 1:57 remaining. It was the first rushing touchdown scored by Carolina in five exhibition and three regular-season games.