Saints 34 Panthers 26 summary ....... The Saints exacted a little revenge on the expansion Panthers in an ugly, ugly game. play-by-play ............ This game's tone was set on the third play from scrimmage. On 3rd & 11, Joe Johnson hit Panther QB Kerry Collins and forced a fumble. A Carolina offensive lineman grabbed the ball and ran with it a little while before fumbling it himself. Vince Buck picked the pigskin out of the air and started to return it before sloppy ballhandling produced yet another fumble, recovered by the Panthers at the original line of scrimmage. The Panthers then went 3 & punt. A 15 yd blitz-beater to Wesley Walls on 3rd & 5 gave the Saints a 1st in Carolina territory, but on the next play Sam Mills recovered a botched handoff (Mario Bates apparently thought play-action was taking place and made no attempt to grab the ball). After Collins hit Green for 21 on 3rd & 3 from the NO 38, a Rasby catch and a Thomas run gave Carolina 1st & goal from the 7. Two plays later the refs disallowed a TD catch made possible by a pick play, so the Panthers settled for a 22 yd FG. Derrick Ned returned the short kickoff to the 37, but the O couldn't get a 1st. Klaus Wilmsmeyer's punt was fair-caught at the 10. Two runs by Christian moved the sticks once, but Carolina failed to pick up any more yards on the drive. Another 3 & punt Saints series was followed by another excellent Wilmsmeyer punt, this one fair-caught at the 9. On the following play, Renaldo Turnbull recovered a ball stripped from the QB by Wayne Martin. Bates immediately ran it in from 4 yds out to put the Saints in front. Collins hit Green for 14 on 3rd & 7 from the 29, but the Panthers failed to move the chains a second time. Three runs by Bates moved the ball from the 12 to the 31, then Ray Zellars ran 3 yds for a 1st. However, two consecutive near-catches by Early and a good pass defense by Brett Maxie produced a punt. The Saints quickly regained possession when Jimmy Spencer intercepted a 3rd down Collins overthrow at the NO 45. Irv Smith caught an 11 yd ball before Bates lost a yd and the teams traded line of scrimmage violations. Haynes' 12 yd catch gave the O a 1st at the 23, but Bates was hit immediately in the backfield for a 5 yd loss on the next play. However, good protection on the following play allowed Everett to find Early for a 28 yd TD. The PAT put the Saints up 14-3 with 7:59 left in the half. Facing 3rd & 4 on the third play of the ensuing possession, Collins threw a quick pass to Green. Anticipating that Tyrone Hughes would make a play on the ball, Eric Allen pulled up. Hughes missed the ball and instead landed on Allen's ankle, thus allowing the WR to score an easy 60 yd TD. A throw to Rasby for 2 points cut the lead to 3. Early caught an 8 yd throw on 3rd & 5 from the 29, then took an end-around for 9 more yds. A run by Zellars, an illegal contact penalty, and two runs by Bates put the ball at the Carolina 34, but the next two plays were a sack and an interception at the 8 by Maxie. The Panthers took over with 1:25 left before haltime and tried to drive for a score, but Ernest Dixon intercepted a duck produced by a hit on Collins and returned the ball to the Carolina 27. Three plays produced three incompletions, so Doug Brien came on to make a 45 yarder 8 seconds before the end of the half. Hughes took in the second half kickoff at the 11 and generated a winding return that brought the ball all the way to the Carolina 7. However, the O's efforts produced a 1 yd loss by Bates, an incompletion, and a sack. The Saints settled for a 39 yd FG. A defensive holding penalty on Spencer gave the Panthers one 1st, but they were denied a second when Collins was smashed down inches short of the marker on a 3rd down scramble. The following drive was the Saints' best of the night- Everett hit Torrance Small for 12 after two Bates runs set up 3rd & 2; Zellars ran for 4 after two Bates runs and a Darrion Conner neutral zone violation set up 3rd & 1; Zellars ran one for 6 & Lorenzo Neal caught one for 9; Bates ran for 1, then 14; Zellars ran for 7, then 4, then 3; Bates ran it in for the TD from 6 yds out. With 2:47 left in the third quarter, the Saints were up 27-11. The Panthers failed to get a 1st, and Hughes nearly broke the punt for a TD. The O took over at midfield with a great chance to put the game away. Instead, Zellars gave the ball over to Carolina right away by bobbling a handoff. A holding penalty backed the visitors up, but it was followed by three consecutive catches by Carrier of 29, 25, and 3 yds, the third one going for a TD. A 2-point catch by Christian cut the lead to 8. Early caught a pass and ran all the way across the field to gain 25 on the first play of the ensuing possession. Everett then made a beautiful 26 yd connection with Walls on 3rd & 25. A 12 yd Walls reception surrounded by three Zellars runs set up a 36 yd FG, but Brien pushed it wide. The Panthers were unable to mount a threat, though, as Spencer took an easy 3rd & 20 throw back to the Carolina 46. Zellars ran for 8 and Neal for 3 before a 3rd & 10 pass interference penalty gave the Saints a 1st at the 22. A holding call and a false start backed the team to the edge of FG range, but Derek Brown used a burst of speed to break an inside handoff down the sideline for a 35 yd TD. A 3 yd catch by Beebe on 3rd & 1 and a 19 yd catch by Christian on 3rd & 4 moved Carolina to the NO 43 before Guilford took a pass down to the 7. Allen ended the threat by intercepting Collins' 3rd & goal throw into the endzone. Five running plays in a row caused Carolina to use their timeouts but failed to completely run out the clock. Another great Wilmsmeyer punt was downed at the 4 with 1:28 remaining. Two 2nd down catches in a row by Christian put the ball at the 40 before a sloppy play by the secondary allowed Carrier to make a long run after a catch and score a 60 yd TD. Fortunately, Walls nabbed the onside kick. A kneel ended the game. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S F :04 A >>>>>>>>>>F 1:33 I >>>>P 1:33 N >>>P :54 T >>7 :04 Bates S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 2:49 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:01 Early | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I 5:02 | 3 :20 Brien | ....................................................halftime | 3<<<<<<<< 1:36 Brien | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 8:08 Bates | F :08 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 5:58 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:27 Brown | >>>>>>>>>>>P :58 | E :23 | ....................................................gameover | 35:58 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G P F< 1:04 A >P :59 N >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 4:09 Kasay T >>>>>>>P 2:32 H F :08 E >>>>>>>>>P 2:15 R I< :56 S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>8 1:32 Green/Rasby | >>>>>>>>>>>I :57 | E :08 | ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>P 2:29 | >>>P 1:06 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>8 1:32 Carrier/Xian | I<<<<< :42 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I 2:28 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 1:05 Carrier | ....................................................gameover | 24:02 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...../...runnin'.... Everett Bates 19- 71-2 Brown 3- 34-1 Zellars 16- 64 Neal 2- 14 1- 3 Walls 4- 59 Smith 3- 28 Haynes 1- 13 Early 3- 60-1 1- 9 Small 2- 21 incomplete 13 intercepted 1 15-29-195-1-1 40-181-3 Panthers: Collins 17-46-335-3-4, Carrier 6-132-2, Green 4-105-1 notes ..... * the Saints picked up Carolina's blitzes much better than last time * there were 21 possessions that lasted less than 100 seconds each * Winfred Tubbs was inactive due to an injury, but fortunately we didn't need him tonight * Moon vs. Collins- oh, what a difference * attendance was very low ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu