Saints 23 Jaguars 41 The overmatched Saints acquitted themselves well in the first half but ultimately succumbed to the Jaguars. Early on, it looked like a Jacksonville rout was in the making- the Saints went 3 & punt in the game's first series, with Barlow returning the kick 74 yds for a TD. However, the Saints responded with an impressive drive against the league's best defense- Billy Joe Tolliver hit Keith Poole for 30, went to Lawrence Dawsey for 13, and threw to Ricky Williams for 14 on 3rd & 13. Aaron Craver ran for 8 on 2nd & 7; Tolliver threw to Ricky for 13 on 3rd & 9 from the Jaguar 14. A play later, BJT dove in for the score. The PAT made it 7-7 with 5:28 to go in the first quarter. The traditionally low-scoring Jacksonville offense stormed back- from a 2nd & 16 at the Jaguar 37, the home team went Brady 30 catch, Stewart 12 run, McCardell 14 catch, Jones 7 catch for TD. Again, the Saint O shocked the Jaguar D by grabbing chunks of yardage- Eddie Kennison caught a ball for 23, Ricky ran for 14, then 6. On 3rd & 4 from the Jaguar 36, Tolliver hit Andre Hastings for 17. On the next play, Ricky notched his first-ever NFL TD by taking advantage of a William Roaf block to run down the left sideline for a 19 yd score. Doug Brien's kick restored the tie. The Jags moved deep into NO territory with a 43 yd catch by Jimmy Smith down to the 6 yardline, but on the following play McCardell failed to corral a throw in the endzone, and Willie Clay grabbed it. After an exchange of punts, a great 33 yd throw to Scott Slutzker helped set up a 52 yarder by Brien with 1:48 to go before halftime. Jacksonville moved into Saints territory with a catch by Barlow and two by Stewart. A key play came with on 3rd & 7 from the NO 20 with :48 left. Fred Weary dropped an easy INT in the endzone, which would've sent the team to the locker room with a 3-point lead. Instead, the Jags kicked a FG on the half's final play to tie the score. Early in the second half, Brunell again hooked up with Smith for a long ball, a 57 yd catch that put Jacksonville at the NO 4. On the next play, Stewart ran it in for the TD. On the second play of the next possession, Tolliver injured his knee while being sacked. Billy Joe Hobert came in (permanently, as it turned out); the series was a 3 & punt. Jacksonville soon opened the game up when the Brunell-Smith combination was good for a juggling 46 yd TD catch. Two punts ensued, Brien missed a 39 yarder, Hollis made a 32 yarder. Hobert suffered a freak INT at the NO 30, Sammy Knight got tossed after protesting a (nonexistent) unnecessary roughness penalty, Stewart ran it in for a 1 yd TD. The final score was set after Ricky ran for a late 1 yd TD and a try for two fell incomplete. stats (view with a fixed-width font, like Courier) ^^^^^ runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 1- 1-1 B.J. Tolliver 2- 16 B.J. Hobert 19- 94-2 Ricky Williams 2- 27 3-(12) Lamar Smith 1- 4 2- 6 Aaron Craver 1- 0 Troy Davis 1- 1 Eddie Kennison 1- 23 1- 15 Keith Poole 2- 39 1- 5 Andre Hastings 1- 17 4- 41 Lawrence Dawsey 1- 13 Scott Slutzker 1- 33 2- 31 Josh Wilcox 1- 3 29-106-3 TOTAL 10-159 8- 92 inc 4 4 INT 0 1 runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 3- 27 M. Brunell J. Fiedler 16- 87-2 James Stewart 5- 53 6- 27 Stacey Mack Jimmy Smith 7-199-1 2- 21 Keenan McCardell 2- 19 Reggie Barlow 2- 30 Kyle Brady 1- 30 Damon Jones 2- 20-1 25-141-2 TOTAL 19-351-2 2- 21 inc 10 0 INT 1 0 notes ^^^^^ * How bad is the NFC this year? Despite sharing the conference's worst record, the Saints are only 3 games out of a wildcard spot ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu