Saints 0 49ers 23 The Saints proved Mike Ditka's Saturday Night Live "we suck" pronouncement by getting shut out for the second consecutive week. The team set out to establish the running game behind William "Sporty" Roaf, Andy "Sexy" McCollum, Jerry "Posh" Fontenot, Keno "Baby" Hills, and Ricky "Scary" Siglar by giving the ball to Ray Zellars on the first three plays from scrimmage. The runs netted 9 yds, so SF took over at their 20 following a fair catch. A Clark catch gained 23 on the Niners' first play, and one play later Stokes caught a ball for 11. An 8 yd Young scramble moved the sticks on 3rd & 7, then two plays later the QB hit Owens for 4 on 3rd & 2. One play later, a well-designed screen to Hearst was good for a 20 yd TD. The Saints benefitted from a 15 yd facemask on the ensuing kickoff but gave the yardage back one play later when Troy Davis was flagged for unnecessary roughness. The ball was soon back in the 49ers' hands via punt. The visitors reached the NO 44 but failed to convert on 3rd & 3. Mark Royals did his thing after Zellars lost 3 on 3rd & 1. Having lulled the Saints to sleep by dinking and dumping all day, the mood was just right for the Niners to try a deep ball. On 1st & 10 from midfield, Owens beat Eric Allen down the sideline, but the ball was underthrown, so Allen was able to bat it away. Owens' 18 yd catch on 3rd down and a sack-negating defensive holding penalty allowed San Fran to kick a 36 yd FG. Four punts later, the Saints took possession of the ball at their 12 with 55 seconds to go before halftime. The team's first earned 1st down of the game was immediately followed by a Danny Wuerffel floater that was picked off and returned to the NO 24. The Niners shot themselves in the foot by allowing a 1st down sack, but Gary Anderson made the half-ending 51-yarder anyway. The third quarter was much like the first two- San Francisco tacked on a FG to take a surprisingly-small 16-0 lead. With 12:51 to go in the game and the Saints beginning a drive at the SF 46, Ditka replaced Wuerffel with Heath Shuler. The QB doubled the team's 1st down total by hitting Randal Hill for 14 on 1st & 10 and handing to Mario Bates for 2 on 3rd & 2, but then came a sack-and-fumble. San Fran recovered the pigskin and scored a while later on a 5 yd Stokes catch. After Eric Guliford returned the ensuing kickoff to the 40, Doug Nussmeier saw his first action of the season. He threw a 9 yd shot to Guliford on 2nd & 10 and sneaked for the 1st on 4th & 1. A 3rd & 3 strike to Hill gave the team a 1st at the 29, but no more were forthcoming. Brohm gave the ball to Kirby 5 times in a row to run out the clock. stats (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^ ..runnin'......./................throwin' & catchin'........................ Danny wuerffel 1- 4 heath Shuler 1- 2 douG nussmeier 8-27 ray Zellars 3-19 2- 3 Troy davis 5-18 mario Bates 1- 0 Wes bender 1-(8) Randal hill 1- 2 1-14 2-20 Andre hastings 2-33 Eric guliford 2-15 Irv smith 1- 4 incomplete 7 0 5 intercepted 1 0 0 19-46 7-15-58-0-1 1-1-14-0-0 4-9-35-0-0 yardage histogram ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (players identified by capital letters as in stats above- B=Bates, etc.) G S T B <--runs BZBZ B R Z BTZZZZ Z ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** ZR I AR E Z RR A EZ <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * Nussmeier looked pretty good in the limited action he saw- there's no good reason not to start him vs. Oakland ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu