TAMPA, Fla. – In a storybook start to his NFL career and the Titans season, rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota glided to a four-touchdown performance.

At the start of the fourth quarter in Sunday's game against the Buccaneers, Mariota was given the rest of the day off. He exited the game with 14:49 on the clock in the final quarter, handing things over to Zach Metenberger as the Titans defeated the Bucs, 42-14, at Raymond James Stadium.

Mariota completed 13 of 16 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns, energizing a franchise that went 2-14 a year ago, earning the right to draft him second overall.

And while the Heisman Trophy winner has emerged nationally as a spokesman for Subway and a pitchman for Nike, the regular season debut will vault him to new heights.

Fantasy players will flock to add him and media will descend on Nashville this week to see him up close as the Titans prepare for a Week 2 trip to Cleveland.

Marcus Mariota threw four touchdown passes in the first half of his first regular-season game. Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

His stellar play and the lackluster performance of Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston, the only player selected ahead of Mariota in April, will serve to accelerate a premature debate about whether the Buccaneers did the right thing.

And 45 guys who played with Mariota may come to list this game as one of the highlights of their careers.

Running back Bishop Sankey, often anemic as a rookie, was far livelier in this game, with 12 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns, one a 12-yard pass from Mariota and another on a 1-yard plunge.

Kendall Wright topped 100 yards receiving while Harry Douglas and Delanie Walker also found the end zone.

Playing from so far ahead, the Titans pass rush roared, with consistent pressure that had Winston – far less mobile than Mariota – scrambling frequently.

The Titans' best scoring output in 2014 was 28 points and they lost that game to the Browns.

In the first half on Sunday, Mariota was nearly perfect through 30 minutes, completing 10 of 13 passes for 175 yards and the four scores.

On his second pass of the game, Mariota faked a handoff and threw a flat-footed slant to Kendall Wright, who outran the Tampa Bay defense for a 52-yard touchdown.

Cornerback Coty Sensabaugh then picked off Winston’s first regular-season NFL pass and took it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Mariota later hit running back Bishop Sankey with a 12-yard scoring pass, receiver Harry Douglas with a 4-yarder and tight end Delanie Walker from a yard out.

The only real sign of trouble for the rookie quarterback so far came with the Titans pinned against their goal line.

They faced a third-and-28 at their own 2-yard line after a Gerald McCoy sack of Mariota.

Officials said forward progress was stopped in that sack, a fortunate call as Mariota fumbled the ball into the end zone later in the play.