Saints 0 Panthers 13 The Saints were shut out for the first time since 1983 in Danny Wuerffel's first NFL start. Doug Brien started things with an intentionally high and short kick to the 40, then went to the sideline and stayed there for the rest of the game. A great hit by Eric Allen kept Ismail just short of midfield on 3rd down, so Danny Wuerffel and the O took over following Eric Guliford's punt return to the 15. DW threw incomplete out of play action on 1st and 2nd, then handed to Ray Zellars on 3rd for a 3 yd loss. Carolina regained possession at their 46 and converted three 3rd downs in a row- Green 5 run on 3rd & 1, Carrier 10 catch on 3rd & 4, Oliver 9 catch on 3rd & 8. On 3rd & 5 from the 8, Alex Molden broke up a throw intended for Walls, so the Panthers settled for a 25 yd FG. A hold by Jared Tomich during the kickoff return and a false start on Andy McCollum put the team in a 1st & 14 hole at the NO 4. Wuerffel moved the sticks by hitting Andre Hastings for 13 on 3rd & 10, but one play later the QB miscommunicated with Randal Hill and was picked off at the 32. Three plays later Johnson scored on a 14 yd screen. With 43 seconds left in the first quarter, it was 10-0 Carolina. On 3rd & 13 from the NO 26, Hill's defender fell down while trying to react to a Wuerffel underthrow, so the play went for a 41 yd gain. The threat ended with a holding penalty and a sack. The ball went back to the O when Biakabutuka was held inches short on 3rd & 1 from the Carolina 44. The team moved the ball via the ground- Troy Davis ran for 13 & 3, Zellars picked up 11 on a misdirection play, Davis gained 3 more, Hill made a good cut to earn 11 on a reverse. The drive ended when a badly underthrown deep ball ended up as an interception instead of the touchdown it should've been. Collins moved the visitors downfield by throwing for five 1st downs in a row- to Walls for 23 on 1st & 10, to Carruth for 9 on 3rd & 7, to Walls for 14 on 1st & 10, to Carrier for 12 on 3rd & 11, to Carrier for 8 on 3rd & 4. The Panthers had three shots from within the 10 but couldn't get into the endzone, so Kasay made a 23 yarder with :07 to go before haltime. Neither team's offense did much with the ball in the second half's first three possessions. In the fourth, pressure from Darren Mickell caused Collins to air a week throw that Sammy Knight picked off at the Carolina 46. The team went for the endzone right away, but for the second time Wuerffel underthrew what should've been a TD toss (this one fell incomplete). The drive ended with a punt-for-touchback. The teams combined to produce a single 1st in the next three possessions. The O then moved from the 10 into Panther territory in 5 plays- Hill 11 catch, Zellars 9 catch, Zellars 2 run, Hill 11 catch, John Farquhar 9 catch. On 4th & 1, Zellars ran for 5, and one play later Hill moved the sticks with a 10 yd catch to put the ball at the 33. The Saints advanced no further, though, as Brett Bech's 4th down catch attempt was ruled to have hit the turf. Carolina ran some time off the clock and forced a fair catch at the 13. The final Saints drive ended with the sacked Wuerffel's helmet 180 degrees out of position on his head. stats (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^ ..runnin'......./................throwin' & catchin'........................ 2- 15 Danny wuerffel 11- 39 ray Zellars 2- 13 12- 46 Troy davis 2- 3 1- 11 Randal hill 5- 79 Andre hastings 1- 13 Eric guliford 1- 10 john Farquhar 2- 14 incomplete 17 intercepted 2 26-111 13-32-132-0-2 yardage histogram ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (players identified by capital letters as in stats above- Z=Zellars, etc.) TT TT D <--runs T ZZZTT T DR Z TTZZZZZ T ZZ T ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** T TZFR FRR A R ZER <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * the key question is- Will better protection and more experience cause DW's unforced errors to go away? ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu