COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 2 : USC Is Quick at Start : College football: Trojans score early and often in opener against Hawaii.

The morning paper had Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano predicting that Hawaii--a team that hadn’t won a game since 1997--would upset 27-point favorite USC by seven points.

The Trojans had it figured differently, and set out Saturday night to try to put to rest their recent history of stumbling when they shouldn’t.

Amid the excitement of Hawaii Coach June Jones’ debut and the first sellout at Aloha Stadium since 1992, No. 21 USC started its season by stopping Hawaii short of midfield repeatedly and scoring on its first five possessions as the Trojans took a 31-0 lead in the second quarter.

Running back Malaefou MacKenzie rushed for two touchdowns in the second quarter.

David Newbury, USC’s unproven new kicker, made the first field-goal attempt of his Trojan career, a 48-yarder less than five minutes into the game.

That in itself was a comfort to the Trojans, who had watched as Newbury, a sophomore newcomer, and junior David Bell had a close but unimpressive preseason battle for the job.

On USC’s second possession sophomore quarterback Carson Palmer and Windrell Hayes connected on a 32-yard touchdown pass play, and the Trojans took a 10-0 lead with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

That was along the lines of what Palmer was hoping for as he prepared for the opener. The Trojans weren’t perfect, but they scored.

“I mean, I think we should score every time we touch the ball,” Palmer said during the week. “I think that’s what we expect to do offensively, but to be realistic, I’d like to go in and put up 35-40 points on the board. I think we can do that.

“We’ve got to watch the mental errors and the penalties and stuff like that, but I think we have a chance to put up 35 or 40 points.”

Penalties are one of the demons the Trojans will have to rid themselves of this season, and an illegal-block penalty nullified a long punt return by R. Jay Soward early in the game, and a roughing-the-kicker call against Antuan Simmons for running into punter Chad Shrout were examples of what USC must eliminate.

The Trojans basically landed in somebody else’s party Saturday amid the excitement of Jones’ first game.

Jones, the former San Diego Charger and Atlanta Falcon coach, made his debut as Hawaii’s coach wearing an understated Hawaiian print shirt, and decked his team out in white uniforms with new black helmets that arrived only days ago.

The sellout crowd of more than 50,000 was Hawaii’s first since Sept. 26, 1992 against Brigham Young.

Cayetano is leading the charge for the team with an 18-game losing streak, making his bold prediction in a front-page story in The Honolulu Advertiser.

Jones pulled out all the stops, too, trying to fire up his team by bringing in such speakers as Tony Melendez, a man with a club foot and no arms who can play a guitar with his toes, and a blind lawyer who is a champion wrestler.

USC was simply trying to start its season on the right foot after ending last season on the wrong one in a Sun Bowl loss to Texas Christian.

This USC team has a rebuilt defense and youngsters playing all over the field, but when they are as gifted as Palmer, it gives USC confidence.

Palmer’s confidence was buoyed Saturday by the springy new turf of Aloha Stadium, which couldn’t make him fleet of foot, although he did score USC’s second touchdown on a nine-yard keeper for a 17-0 lead with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

“We have every advantage with turf, just because of the speed of our offense and defense,” Palmer said.

Not many are faster than Soward, who nevertheless had plenty to prove as the season began.

“I want to show everybody I’m not fatigued, and catch the ball,” Soward said before the game. “I’ve just got to concentrate and look the ball in my hands. Sometimes I think, I’ve got to score, I’ve got to score.”

As for the criticism he’s faced for his work habits and lack of consistency: “Water off a duck’s back,” Soward said.

“I went and watched every catch Keyshawn [Johnson] made his senior year. He didn’t score that many touchdowns, but he caught the ball. That’s what I’ve got to do.”

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The USC-Hawaii game was not completed when this edition went to press. For a complete game story, see the Times’ Web site at https://www.latimes.com/usc