MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Everyone knows what a threat Laurence Maroney

is when he takes a hand off. On Saturday night, Maroney showed

Florida Atlantic that he's equally dangerous as a receiver.

Maroney rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns, but also had

three catches for 55 yards and his first career receiving

touchdown, to lead Minnesota to a 46-7 romp over Florida Atlantic.

"I got hands, huh?" Maroney said. "It's something we

incorporated in ... try and throw a little pass at them. Let the

world know I have a little bit of hands."

The Gophers (3-0) rolled up 579 yards of offense and led 40-0 at

halftime. Their power running game and physical defense were simply

too much for a Florida Atlantic team in its second season in

Division I-A.

"We got baptized by fire," Owls defensive end Josh Pinnick

said. "With what we did on defense, this one will be real hard to

stomach."

Bryan Cupito was 10-for-17 for 230 yards and two touchdowns,

including a 56-yarder to Jared Ellerson in the second quarter.

After playing BCS schools Kansas and Oklahoma State tough the

first two weeks of the season, the Owls (0-3) managed just 246

yards of offense and were completely outclassed against the

Gophers.

Di Ivory Edgecomb scored the only touchdown for Florida

Atlantic, a 1-yard run in the third quarter. He finished with 24

yards on 10 carries.

Maroney needed little time to get going against the overmatched

Owls. After his first carry went for no gain, he took the second

play off left tackle for 22 yards. Two plays later, Maroney burst

off right end, zigged and zagged a few times and cruised,

untouched, for a 38-yard touchdown run.

Maroney was back at it on the next series, catching a dump-off

pass from Cupito and racing 37 yards for the score, thanks to a

fantastic block by receiver Ernie Wheelwright on free safety Greg

Joseph at the goal line.

"When Maroney rattled off those two touchdowns, we got unglued

a little bit," Pinnick said.

Gary Russell joined in late in the first quarter when he took

the handoff, ran over cornerback Willie Hughley, and raced 47 yards

for a touchdown and a 20-0 lead.

It was a long night for Hughley, who also got beat by Ellerson

on a post for a 56-yard touchdown in the second quarter that made

the score 33-0.

Maroney capped the half with a 10-yard run, giving the Gophers

points on all seven first-half possessions.

"They're just big boys who go jaw-to-jaw and tooth-to-tooth,"

Owls coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "That's probably the best

offensive line I've seen since Nebraska's in 1983."

Russell added another touchdown in the third, this one a

dazzling 30-yarder in which he broke four tackles and juked another

to get to the end zone. He finished with 116 yards on 11 carries.

"There were a lot of areas I saw improvement," Gophers coach

Glen Mason said. "In the first half, I thought we were pretty

impressive."

It wasn't all good news for the Gophers. Jason Giannini missed

two extra points and has now missed five in the last two games, and

linebacker John Shevlin injured his left knee in the first quarter

and did not return.

Danny Embick was 11-of-24 for 131 yards and an interception for

the Owls, who have an extremely difficult nonconference schedule

that includes a date with Louisville in two weeks.

Schnellenberger has taken a similar approach to building the

program that he did to rebuilding Miami in the early 1980s -- play

anybody, anywhere.

"Our plan was to schedule just about anyone," Schnellenberger

said. "We accomplished a lot in all three games. It's given us an

example of what to work toward."

The Hurricanes became national champions in 1983 under

Schnellenberger, but the Gophers made it clear that the Owls still

have a long way to go.

"We feel that we are ready for our conference games," Edgecomb

said. "Going against more physical, higher-level teams, we feel we

are where we are supposed to be. ... We are a young team and it's a

big step going from I-AA to I-A."