Carson Palmer stood in his space in the back left corner of the Southern California locker room Sunday following his team's 29-5 shellacking of Penn State.

Donning a pair of mesh shorts, with a white towel draped across his shoulder, it was obvious his collarbone — the one he had broken in his third game last season, causing him to miss the rest of the games — had completely healed.

He had come back bigger, stronger and faster than he ever had been, and now his Trojans had win No. 1 to celebrate.

By all accounts, Palmer had reason to celebrate, too.

Yet, he frowned.

"I wasn't satisfied at all," the redshirt sophomore said. "I didn't play very well at all. But that just speaks very highly of our team. For them to come out and play, and play like they did today — without a quarterback — and still come up with a win, it means a lot to me," he added, in a self-deprecating tone.

Palmer finished 10 of 20 for 87 yards, and he threw one pick. He likely would have had at least two more, as Penn State cornerback Bruce Branch stepped in front of at least two under-thrown passes.

Far from impressive — even for Palmer's first game back in almost a year. Nevertheless, USC coach Paul Hackett said he was prepared for anything, including a disaster.

For him, at least, this Titanic barely missed the iceberg.

"I think he was about what I would have anticipated," Hackett said. "I think there were some things they did that were a little different from what we had showed him in practice.

"There were some protection issues that got him a little bit. He did a great job holding onto the ball one time when he got hit.

"I thought he was OK on the short stuff, but I thought anything down the field, he was a little bit rusty."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno agreed.

"He's a little rusty," he said. "That's not the right word, but it is close."

That would be natural. Much like a car that has sat in a driveway for an extended period, Palmer's arm needed some tinkering.

Fortunately for him, he could do the tinkering while his teammates did the driving. And the finished product, while hardly sufficient to roll off the line for display, was functional.

"He handled the football team the way that I wanted him to," Hackett said. "He handled the offense the way the leader has to handle the offense. That was far more important than how much passing he did. "