ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan's new era opened in a painfully familiar way for the 108,000-plus fans at the Big House: With an ugly-looking loss.

Rich Rodriguez's debut as Wolverines coach was spoiled when Utah's Brian Johnson threw for 305 yards and a touchdown and Louie Sakoda kicked four field goals, providing enough scoring to hold on for a 25-23 win yesterday.

"We got a chance to put our names on the map," Johnson said.

A year ago, Appalachian State stunned the Wolverines. But this was more businesslike than shocking. The Utes were just a three-point underdog and received more votes than Michigan in The Associated Press preseason poll.

"They deserved to win," Rodriguez said.

Utah decisively outplayed the Wolverines early and took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter, but had a punt blocked and fumbled to give Michigan a shot to come back.

Georgia Tech transfer Steven Threet, who came in for former walk-on Nick Sheridan at quarterback, perfectly lofted a 33-yard pass to Junior Hemingway and Sam McGuffie ran for a score on the next drive to pull Michigan within two points midway through the fourth.

Threet's pass on the 2-point conversion was high and the next two drives ended on three-and-outs. Michigan's next drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down deep in its territory.

"It shouldn't have been as close as it was," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "It's a sign of a pretty good football team when you can not play your best and come away with a win, particularly in a venue like this."

Northwestern 30, Syracuse 10: Tyrell Sutton ran for 144 yards, and C.J. Bacher completed 23 of 35 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns to lead the host Wildcats over the Orange at Evanston, Ill.

Indiana 31, Western Kentucky 13: Kellen Lewis ran for touchdowns of 75 and 62 yards and threw for two scores to break the school's career record for TD passes — 42 by Antwaan Randle El — with 44 as the host Hoosiers beat the Hilltoppers at Bloomington, Ind.

Iowa 46, Maine 3: Shonn Greene ran for 109 yards and a touchdown, and freshman Jewel Hampton added two late TDs as the host Hawkeyes routed the Black Bears at Iowa City, Iowa.

Minnesota 31, Northern Illinois 27: Duane Bennett pushed his way in for a 1-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left to lift the host Golden Gophers over the Huskies at Minneapolis.

ACC

Maryland 14, Delaware 7: Da'Rel Scott ran for 197 yards in his first start, Darrius Heyward-Bey scored on a 12-yard reverse in the second quarter and Davin Meggett had a 14-yard TD run in the third quarter to lead the host Terrapins past the Blue Hens at College Park, Md.

Duke 31, James Madison 7: Thaddeus Lewis threw two touchdown passes to Eron Riley, and the Blue Devils beat the visiting Dukes at Durham, N.C. to give David Cutcliffe a victory in his coaching debut.

North Carolina 35, McNeese State 27: Brandon Tate scored on an 82-yard punt return, caught a 57-yard TD pass and finished with a school-record 397 all-purpose yards as the host Tar Heels held off the Cowboys at Chapel Hill, N.C.

BIG 12

Kansas State 45, North Texas 6: Josh Freeman threw two of his three touchdown passes to Brandon Banks and ran for two scores, helping the host Wildcats roll past the Mean Green at Manhattan, Kan.

Nebraska 47, Western Michigan 24: Joe Ganz completed 20 of 36 passes for 345 yards and four touchdown to help Bo Pelini win his first game as the Cornhuskers' coach by beating visiting Broncos at Lincoln, Neb.

Arkansas State 18, Texas A&M 14: Josh Arauco kicked four field goals, including a 37-yarder with 1:12 left for a 18-14 lead as the visiting Red Wolves ruined Mike Sherman's debut as Aggies' coach with a stunning win at College Station, Texas.

CONFERENCE USA

UCF 17, South Carolina State 0: Freshman Latavius Murray scored two touchdowns and Daren Daly added a 27-yard field goal to lead the host Knights over the Bulldogs at Orlando, Fla., for their first shutout since a season-ending 31-0 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in 2001.

Tulsa 45, UAB 22: David Johnson threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns, helping the visiting Golden Hurricane rally from a 22-21 halftime deficit and beat the Blazers in a season-opening Conference USA matchup at Birmingham, Ala.

Marshall 35, Illinois State 10: Darius Marshall rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown and Darius Passmore caught touchdown passes of 88 and 13 yards to power the host Thundering Herd past the Redbirds at Huntington, W.Va.

Southern Mississippi 51, Louisiana-Lafayette 21: Damion Fletcher rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns as the host Golden Eagles gave new coach Larry Fedora his first victory by beating the Ragin Cajuns at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Houston 55, Southern 3: Case Keenum was 33-of-43 for 392 yards and five touchdowns to lead the host Cougars over the Jaguars, giving Kevin Sumlin a victory in his first game as Houston's coach.

MID-AMERICAN

Boston College 21, Kent State 0: Quarterback Chris Crane, who waited four years for his chance to run the offense, completed 12 of 18 passes for 106 yards and ran for two touchdowns to lead the visiting Eagles over the Golden Flashes at Cleveland.

MOUNTAIN WEST

TCU 26, New Mexico 3: Quarterback Andy Dalton ran for two touchdowns and the visiting Horned Frogs scored on their first three possessions to beat the mistake-prone Lobos in a Mountain West Conference game at Albuquerque, N.M.

Air Force 41, Southern Utah 7: Air Force quarterback Shea Smith ran for one touchdown and threw for another, and the host Falcons rolled up 508 total yards, 433 on the ground, in turning back the Thunderbirds at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Wyoming 21, Ohio 20: Sophomore transfer Dax Crum went 14-of-22 for 111 yards and threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Donate Morgan for a 21-20 lead with 7:28 left to play, lifting the host Cowboys over the Bobcats at Laramie, Wyo.

Cal Poly 29, San Diego State 27: Andrew Gardner's 21-yard field goal as time expired lifted the visiting Broncos over the Aztecs at San Diego, Calif.

PACIFIC-10

Arizona 70, Idaho 0: Willie Tuitama completed 17 of 21 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns to break the school record for career TD passes with 47, one more than Tom Tunnicliffe from 1980-83 as the host Wildcats rolled past the Vandals at Tucson, Ariz.

CALIFORNIA 38, Michigan State 31: Kevin Riley passed for 202 yards and two second-half touchdowns, and Shane Vereen broke an 81-yard scoring run with 4:21 left to lead the host Bears over the Spartans at Berkeley, Calif.

SEC

Arkansas 28, Western Illinois 24: Casey Dick scored on a 4-yard run with 1:49 remaining, and the host Razorbacks avoided disaster in Bobby Petrino's first game as coach, rallying to beat the Leathernecks at Fayetteville, Ark.

Mississippi 41, Memphis 24: Jevan Snead hit Shay Hodge with touchdown passes of 64 and 15 yards and the host Rebels beat the Tigers at Oxford, Miss., in Houston Nutt's debut as Mississippi's coach.