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What Louisiana State saw is what other teams are going to get from Texas A&M tailback Leeland McElroy.

McElroy, among the most feared return specialists in the nation, added workhorse tailback to his repertoire with touchdown runs of 18, 3 and 33 yards as No. 3 Texas A&M extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 27 with a 33-17 victory over LSU on Saturday in the teams’ season opener played at College Station, Texas.

After backing up Rodney Thomas and Greg Hill his first two seasons, McElroy made the most of the opportunity to start, rushing for 229 yards on 35 carries, catching five passes for 49 yards and returning three kickoffs for 81 yards, for 359 all-purpose yards.

“He’s going to handle it until he says he can’t,” A&M offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger said. “He got more rest than I thought he would today but he can handle it.”

McElroy played late into the fourth quarter despite temperatures surpassing 100 degrees at kickoff.

“I got a little tired, I can’t say I didn’t, but that’s what I wanted when I came here and they finally gave it to me,” McElroy said. “Coach Ensminger said he was going to get me the ball 25 times a game and I thought he was joking.”

The Tigers didn’t get a decent scoring chance until late in the second quarter when they reached A&M’s 29 and decided to try a 46-yard field goal on fourth-and-2.

Brandon Mitchell barged through and blocked the attempt by Andre LaFleur and the ball was booted all the way back to the LSU 29.

East

Purdue 26, (23) W. Virginia 24: Bryan Baumann missed a 26-yard field goal with 26 seconds left, allowing the Boilermakers to escape with a win over the Mountaineers at Morgantown, W. Va., in a season opener.

Mike Alstott rushed for 109 yards for Purdue, which was outgained 541-368 in total yards.

Midwest

(13) Michigan 38, (25) Illinois 14: Three touchdowns in less than 5 minutes by Tim Biakabutuka stunned sold-out Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., and eased the way for the Wolverines (1-0, 2-0).

(14) Colorado 43, (21) Wisconsin 7: Koy Detmer and his speedy receivers exploited the Badgers’ green secondary as the Buffalos’ new cast romped.

Rick Neuheisel became the first Colorado coach to win his debut since William Saunders in 1932, and he did it in Madison, Wis., the town he where he was born 34 years ago.

Missouri 28, North Texas 7: Brock Olivo ran for 129 yards and the Tigers totaled 347 yards on the ground - its best rushing day in seven seasons - in a season-opening win at St. Louis, Mo.

Kansas State 34, Temple 7: Matt Miller threw for two touchdowns and ran for one and Eric Hickson ran for 107 yards as the Wildcats dominated the Owls in the season opener for both teams at Manhattan, Kan.

Kansas 23, Cincinnati 18: June Henley scored on a 7-yard run immediately following a fumble recovery with 4:43 remaining, lifting the heavily favored Jayhawks to a win over the Bearcats in a season opener at Lawrence, Kan.

South

(1) Florida St. 70, Duke 26: Rock Preston and Warrick Dunn each scored once and rushed for more than 100 yards in the first half to pace a 382-yard ground attack in the Seminoles’ win at Orlando, Fla., the season opener for both teams.

Georgia 42, South Carolina 23: Converted defensive back Robert Edwards set a school record with five touchdowns, rushing for 169 yards and four touchdowns and also scoring on a 45-yard pass reception, leading the Bulldogs to a season-opening win over the Gamecocks at Athens, Ga.

(5) Florida 45, Houston 21: The Gators, shaking off a lackluster defensive showing, defeated the Cougars at Gainesville, Fla., getting two touchdown passes from reserve quarterback Eric Kresser and two scoring runs from Elijah Williams in the season opener.

(6) Auburn 46, Mississippi 13: Patrick Nix threw for a school-record 382 yards as the Tigers emerged from NCAA probation in impressive fashion in the season opener at Auburn, Ala.

(8) Tennessee 27, East Carolina 7: Jay Graham rushed for 144 yards and the Volunteers converted the Pirates’ worst mistake, a halfback option pass that was intercepted, into points in the season opener at Knoxville, Tenn.

(11) Alabama 33, Vanderbilt 25: The Crimson Tide avoided losing their first-ever game under NCAA probation by scoring 23 fourth-quarter points to down the Commodores in a season opener at Nashville, Tenn.

Brian Burgdorf hit Toderick Malone with a 4-yard touchdown pass with 4:33 left to provide a 26-25 lead for Alabama, which was placed on probation last month for violations related to former players.

Alabama hadn’t lost to Vanderbilt in Nashville since 1969 and last lost to the Commodores in 1984 in Tuscaloosa.

Syracuse 20, UNC 9: Darrell Parker returned an interception 30 yards to help set up the go-ahead score and the Orangemen used a 17-point fourth quarter to down the Tar Heels in the season opener at Chapel Hill, N.C.

(17) Virginia 40, William & Mary 16: The Cavs (0-0, 1-1) followed a heart-breaking loss to Michigan by pounding the Tribe (0-1, 0-1) at Charlottesville, Va., in the final game between the state rivals.

Mississippi St. 28, Memphis 18: Derrick Taite completed 18 of 26 passes for 296 yards and tied a school record with four touchdowns as the Bulldogs opened the season with a win over the Tigers in Starkville, Miss., spoiling Rip Scherer’s debut as coach of Memphis.

Georgia Tech 51, Furman 7: C.J. Williams ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns as the home team Yellow Jackets battered the Division I-AA Paladins in Atlanta, giving Tech coach George O’Leary his first victory in the season opener for both teams. Redshirt freshman Charles Wiley, who ran for 79 yards on 12 carries, scored twice - in the first quarter on an 8-yard run and a 13-yard scamper with 2:33 gone in the third period for a 38-0 Tech lead.

Clemson 55, West Carolina 9: Nealon Greene threw a twist into Clemson’s usual dominant running style, passing for three touchdowns in the Tigers’ win over the Catamounts in a season opener at Clemson, S.C.

Louisville 13, Kentucky 10: Calvin Arrington ran 1 yard for the deciding touchdown with 1:29 remaining to lift the Cardinals over the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., in the second opener.

Maryland 29, Tulane 10: Orlando Strozier, converted from defensive back to quarterback during spring practice, replaced Brian Cummings on the last play of the first quarter and paced the Terrapins past the Green Wave at New Orleans in the season opener.

Liberty 76, W. Virginia St. 6: The Flames, who went to federal court to protect their right to pray after big plays, scored 10 touchdowns and four unpenalized prayers in a season opener in Lynchburg, Va.

Southwest

SMU 17, Arkansas 14: Defensive end Wilbert Mitchell recovered a fumble on the 1-yard line with 56 seconds left to save a touchdown as the Mustangs held on to beat the Razorbacks at Dallas in the season opener for both schools. SMU won despite losing quarterback Ramon Flanigan, who dislocated his left hip on the season’s first play.

Rice 38, UNLV 0: The Owls defense set the tone early, as Warrick Franklin returned an interception for a touchdown on the second play of the game and went on to beat the Runnin’ Rebels in the season opener for both clubs at Houston.

Baylor 37, Tulsa 5: The Bears used a smothering defense, three touchdowns by Shawn Washington and a nearly flawless performance from quarterback Jeff Watson to open the season with a win over the Golden Hurricane at Tulsa, Okla.

Arkansas St. 21, Utah St. 17: Johnny Covington’s 27-yard shovel pass to Corey Walker worked for a touchdown with 2:07 to play as the Sun Devils rallied to beat the Aggies at the Jonesboro, Ark., season opener.

West

Nevada 38, SW La. 14: Mike Maxwell threw for 413 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolf Pack over the Ragin’ Cajuns in the season opener for the Big West Conference schools in Reno, Nev. Maxwell had scoring passes of 66 and 5 yards to Steve McHenry as Nevada accumulated 572 yards of offense to just 153 yards for Southwestern Louisiana.

New Mexico St. 45, UTEP 17: Cody Ledbetter passed for four touchdowns and Lucious Davis became New Mexico State’s career leader in receiving yards as the Aggies beat the Miners in Las Cruces, N.M., in the teams’ season opener.

Fresno State 31, NE Louisiana 17: Michael Pittman rushed for a career-high 181 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulldogs to a win over the Indians in the season opener in Fresno, Calif.