Saints 17 Panthers 31 The previously-winless Panthers kept the Saints out of the endzone for the first three quarters and coasted to victory. Beuerlein began things by moving the chains thrice via the air- to Muhammad for 10 on 3rd & 6; to Ismail for 12 on 3rd & 9; to Walls for 16 on 1st & 10. On 4th & inches from the NO 21, Lane ran for 9; the RB then moved the sticks again with a 2 yd pickup on 3rd & inches. On 3rd & goal from the 1, coverage forced Beuerlein & Muhammad to improvise a TD reception. Whereas the game-opening possession consumed 9:38, over the next eight minutes the ball changed hands 6 times- each team went 3 & punt; Lloyd caused & recovered a fumble; Sammy Knight intercepted a ball in the endzone; the Saints drove to midfield before Eric Davis stepped in front of a Billy Joe Tolliver throw and ran 56 yds down the sideline for a TD. Tolliver atoned somewhat by hitting Keith Poole for a 42 yd gain on the next play from scrimmage. The play helped set up Doug Brien for a successful 49 yd FG with 10:11 left in the half. Michael Bates returned the ensuing kickoff to the NO 49. The Panthers reached the NO 21 before a false start and a sack pushed them back to the edge of FG range; Kasay converted a 54 yarder. During the next possession, a chance for a TD was missed when Tolliver underthrew a pass intended for Poole, who had beaten his man deep. The visitors wound up punting; the return plus a 15 yd facemask on Scott Slutzker put Carolina at the NO 30. On the very next play, however, Lane coughed up the ball and the Saints recovered. Each team went 3 & punt; the half ended on Tolliver's incomplete Hail Mary from the Carolina 49. Qadry Ismail was stripped of the ball while returning the second-half kickoff. Carolina recovered, and a short while later Lane ran for a 5 yd TD. Neither team mounted a threat during the next four possessions. The Saint O finally got going with when Troy Davis ran for 11 and caught a ball for 12 on back-to-back plays; immediately following was a 29 yd reception by Sean Dawkins. A 16 yd catch by Dawkins put the ball at the 5; on 3rd & goal from the 2 Tolliver rolled out and hit Cleeland for the score. With 14:12 left in the game, it was 24-10 Carolina. The Panthers began the ensuing possession at their 40 when Brien's kickoff went out-of-bounds. Beuerlein picked up a pair of 1sts with throws to Walls and Floyd; illegal contact by Mark Fields brought about another 1st. From there, Raghib Ismail may have gotten away with a shove while beating Fred Weary for a 33 yd TD catch. The Saints made an attempt at a comeback- on the next play from scrimmage Cleeland caught a pass and rumbled down the sideline for a 52 yd pickup. After that, pass interference, a Davis catch, and a Davis run put the ball at the Carolina 7. The Saints' last chance of making a game of it ended when Tolliver threw behind Dawkins on 4th & goal; the ball hit the WR's shoulder pad, bounced into the air, and was intercepted. The Panthers killed some clock before punting the ball back. On the first play after the 2-minute warning, Brett Bech notched his first-ever TD with a 6 yd catch. The 31-17 defeat left the Saints at 4-4, entrenched in third place in the NFC West. stats & yardage histograms (from my "le Stat" system, not official) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ note: this stuff is meant to be read using a fixed-width font, like Courier note: the capital letters in the stats are used in the histograms and the drive chart to identify the players ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'........ 1-(4) b.J. tolliver 10-41 troy Davis 5- 19 2- 4 Aaron craver 1- 2 1- 1 ray Zellars 1- 7 wilmont Perry Keith poole 5- 90 Sean dawkins 6-104 brett Bech 3- 39-1 cameron Cleeland 3- 61-1 scott slUtzker 1- 11 incomplete 22 intercepted 2 15-49 24-48-326-2-2 A <--runs DZAD P J DDDD D D D D ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** D DC KBCK BSK S S S K S K C A D D UD S B <--passes ..runnin'......./.......throwin' & catchin'........ 1- 3 steve Beuerlein 35- 98-1 fred Lane 2- 3 william Floyd 3- 16 anthony Johnson 1- 5 muhsin Muhammad 3- 22-1 raghib Ismail 2- 45-1 wesley Walls 4- 45 incomplete 3 intercepted 1 38-104-1 13-17-133-2-1 F L B LLL LLL LLL L L <--runs L L FLLLLL L LLLL LLLLLL LLLL L ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** M FFW WMW W I F M I J <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * this was the first out-of-doors game played by the Saints this season * the starters on offense- QB Billy Joe Tolliver, LT Kyle Turley, LG Andy McCollum, C Tom Ackerman, RG Chris Naeole, RT Clarence Jones, TE Cam Cleeland, FB Aaron Craver, HB Troy Davis, WR Sean Dawkins, WR Keith Poole ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu