Cam Newton

Jacksonville (1-1) at Carolina (0-2) Sunday, 10 a.m. Panthers 24, Jaguars 17 TV: None. DirecTV: 704. Line: Panthers by 3. O/U: 43. Back-to-back 400-yard passing performances weren't enough to net Cam Newton his first NFL victory. He'll throw for fewer yards against the Jaguars, but get one in the "W" column. Houston (2-0) at New Orleans (1-1) Sunday, 10 a.m. Saints 28, Texans 21 TV: None.

Look who's 2-0. Detroit and Buffalo are. The Lions are one win away from their best start since 1980. The Bills are already halfway to last season's win total. Look who's 0-2. Kansas City and Indianapolis are. The Chiefs, defending AFC West champions, have now lost two of their best players. The Colts haven't been 0-2 since 1998, Peyton Manning's rookie season. Look who's 0-2 but feels a little like 2-0. Carolina does. A week after throwing for 422 yards in a loss at Arizona, rookie Cam Newton threw for 432 against Green Bay, giving the Packers a scare but failing to complete the comeback.

Rookie quarterbacks aren't supposed to look comfortable in their debuts, especially on the road. Rookie quarterbacks aren't supposed to make a seamless transition from a college spread offense to a pro-style NFL scheme. Rookie quarterbacks — especially ones known for accuracy problems — aren't supposed to begin their pro careers by throwing for 400 yards. These are NFL rules of thumb. Then, there's Newton's Law. Carolina's Cam Newton was the buzz of the league Monday after throwing for 422 yards — the most by a rookie quarterback making his first start — in a 28-21 loss at Arizona.

SATURDAY VIEWERS GUIDE Break out the chips and cold drinks, but let Chris Dufresne handle the remote. Each Friday, The Times' national college football writer handicaps what's worth watching, and skipping, on Saturday's menu of games. MORNING No. 16 Mississippi State (1-0) at Auburn (1-0) 9 a.m., KDOC Your Saturday wake-up check should include Fruit Loops, cartoons, KDOC and the SEC. The juicy back story here: Mississippi State was the source of last year's Cam Newton, pay-for-play controversy.

College football begins this week with the sport overshadowed by scandal. Two Louisiana State players face felony charges in connection with a bar fight. A former University of Miami booster says he provided players with gifts for a decade. Jim Tressel resigned as Ohio State's coach during the off-season, and quarterback Terrelle Pryor was suspended before turning pro. Auburn is under investigation for its recruitment of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, now in the NFL. As kickoff nears, The Times asked NCAA President Mark Emmert about these problems.

The ugly cloud of cheating and greed that hovers over NCAA athletics these days does not darken anything for Farren Benjamin. Nothing blocks her sunshine. She says she is a student-athlete. "Some people get that order wrong," she says. "They think they are athlete-students. " She will be an academic senior and an athletic junior at USC this fall. She will take 16 credits, including four toward a graduate degree. She will work in the Trojans' sports information department as an unpaid intern and will spend four hours a day in training for her varsity sport.

We realize Auburn is an alpha male from a Bulldog-eat-Bulldog conference but, come on, last year's run to the national title was about as improbable as Vanderbilt winning it. Auburn launched from No. 22 in the preseason Associated Press poll, just ahead of Georgia, Oregon State and West Virginia. Those schools combined to finish 20-17 while Auburn ripped off a 14-0 year for the ages and, ultimately, the investigators. The highest Auburn was ranked anywhere important was, um, here, where the Tigers checked in at No. 18 in the preseason.

Cleveland's Colt McCoy is one of a host of young quarterbacks who are light on experience but heavy on potential. They all want to realize the type of early success that Baltimore's Joe Flacco, Atlanta's Matt Ryan and the New York Jets' Mark Sanchez have experienced. Five of the young guns to watch: Andy Dalton, Cincinnati: Carson Palmer's refusal to return to the Bengals set the stage for Dalton, a former Texas Christian standout, to step in and play. Dalton has the added pressure of getting no off-season to learn first-time NFL offensive coordinator Jay Gruden's system.

Serena Williams beat Australia's Anastasia Rodionova , 6-0, 6-0, Tuesday in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic at Palo Alto. Williams, troubled by a right foot injury the last year, played on American soil for the first time since reaching the semifinal of the 2009 U.S. Open. It's her third event since winning at Wimbledon last year. Williams, ranked 169th, moved smoothly on the court against the overmatched, 105th-ranked Rodionova, who has lost five straight.

UCLA will be paying former offensive coordinator Norm Chow $500,000 while he is coaching at Utah this year, according to information obtained by The Times through a public-records request. That was UCLA's buyout to entice Chow to resign in January after he was removed as offensive coordinator. He would have been reassigned to another position on staff had he not resigned. As Utah's offensive coordinator, Chow has a two-year, $550,000 contract, making him the Utes' highest-paid assistant.