Saints 14 Oilers 31 summary ^^^^^^^ The Oilers took control early and scored an easy win over the Saints. play-by-play ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Oilers took the opening kickoff to the 36 and quickly moved into Saint territory via a run and a catch by Harmon. On 3rd & 10 from the NO 42, Chandler picked up a bobbled snap and hit Sanders on a short crossing route. The WR got a block downfield and made it all the way into the endzone. The ensuing kickoff was short and bounced to Mercury Hayes, who thought about lateraling the ball before turning upfield. He should've followed his first instinct, because he fumbled after being hit. Houston took over at the NO 28. A crackback block nearly pushed the Oilers out of FG range, but Harmon took a throw 23 yds to the 13, and two plays later the RB was wide open for an 11 yd TD catch. With the Saint O yet to have taken a snap, the score was 14-0. Jim Everett took the field behind an offensive line consisting of Clarence Jones, Craig Novitsky, Andy McCollum, Ed King, and Mike Verstegen. The green line did a good job initially, as Lorenzo Neal and Ray Zellars gained 5 & 6 on the first two plays of the drive. Defensive pass interference put the ball near midfield before Zellars ran for 5. A helpful defensive pass interference call got the team out of a 3rd & 5 situation, and a Zellars run and a catch by TE Tony Johnson set up 1st & 10 at the 18. On 3rd & 2, a good tackle held Earnest Hunter to no gain after a shovel pass. Doug Brien made a 29 yarder with 2:09 left in the first quarter. The Houston return man obligingly caught the kickoff while running out of bounds at the 3. During the following thirteen minutes, six lackluster possessions occurred (each offense gained less than 20 yds total during them). However, the Oilers improved their field position thanks to superior special teams play in the form of better net punting yardage (45, 41, 62 for Houston vs. 37, 30, 36 for the Saints) and took control of the ball at the NO 49 with 3:49 left in the half. A cutback run by Harmon gained 25, then the RB caught a ball for 16. Pass interference in the endzone put the ball at the 1 before Norgard caught a scoring throw on a tackle-eligible play. The O started at their 33 with about a minute left before halftime. Lee DeRamus caught a ball for 8, then Hunter took a shovel pass 7. Following an incompletion, Hunter took another short throw to the Oiler 35. A 3rd & 6 deep ball glanced off of Hendrick Lusk's hands in the endzone, so Brien nailed a 49 yarder to close the first half scoring. Hughes returned the second half kickoff to the Oiler 48 but was penalized 10 yds for hands-to-the-face. Third down pressure created an incompletion and ended the scoring threat. George gained 9 on the ground on each of the first two plays of the ensuing possession. A touchy roughing-the-quarterback call against Anthony Newman pushed the ball across the 50, then Harmon ran for 11. One play later, Harmon (again) caught a ball for 17. A Wycheck catch moved the line of scrimmage to the 4, and one play later George took the ball in for the TD. With 7:13 left in the third quarter, it was 28-6 Houston. After the teams traded unremarkable possessions, the O took over at the NO 12. A Neal run and a Zellars run were good for a 1st, then Neal took a screen pass for 13. Zellars ran for 4 on 3rd & 3, then one play later DeRamus made a nice diving catch for a pickup of 16. On the following play Everett hit a wide open Michael Haynes for a 34 yd TD. For the conversion, Haynes went in motion, took a handoff, and ran it in for 2. The D prevented Houston's offense from gaining any yards, and Hughes took the punt to the NO 33, but an unnecessary roughness call on McMillan put the ball back 15. The O went 3 & punt. Chandler threw the ball right to Greg Jackson on Houston's next offensive play, and the safety registered the team's second INT of the season. However, an illegal block and Jackson's fumble during the return cost the team 20 yds of field position. The O again went 3 & punt. The Oilers ran the fourth quarter clock from 8:58 to 1:38 by repeatedly handing the ball to George before kicking a 25 yarder. The Saints were unable to score in their final possession. stats (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^ ....runnin'....../......throwin' & catchin'.... jim Everett 17-59 ray Zellars 1- 7 1-(1) Earnest hunter 5- 39 3-15 lorenzo Neal 1- 13 michael Haynes 2- 47-1 torrance Small 2- 11 lee deRamus 2- 24 Tony johnson 1- 15 hendrick Lusk 2- 13 incompletions 17 interceptions 0 21-73 16-33-169-1-0 yardage histogram (player marks are as in stats above- Z=Zellars, etc.) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ N ZN Z <--runs Z ZZZZ N Z EZZZZZZZZ Z ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** E L EERE N TRE H S Z L H S <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * the makeshift O-line did a decent job of run blocking, but Everett was often under pressure when trying to throw * due to Ricky Whittle's injury, Earnest Hunter saw a lot of action * this season I've been talking up the Oilers to anyone who'll listen- I'll bet those Ozarkians wish the team had already moved out of Houston (sorry, Tennessee!) ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu