THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
SPORTS
>> NFL
7B
Colts destroy Saints after slow first half
Indianapolis scores 31-straight points
BY DAVE GOLDBERG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDIANAPOLIS — It took the Indianapolis Colts one half to shake off their post-Super Bowl hangover.
Then Peyton Manning and friends came alive to beat New Orleans 41-10 Thursday night in the NFLs opener, running away in the final 30 minutes with a championship-caliber performance.
Playing against his hometown team, Manning had three TD passes, two to Reggie Wayne and another to Marvin Harrison.
Joseph Addaari for 118 yards on 23 carriers and a super-quick defense with four new starters shut down Drew Brees,
Reggie Bush and the explo-
It took a little while before Manning got the Colts' offense focused.
sive New Orleans offense.
"With Marvin and Reggie, you're always going to throw it to those guys."
a good day, they say you're picking on one guy. We really don't do that."
The game finally put the focus back on football after an offseason dominated by player discipline problems and long suspensions, most notably involving Michael Vick and Adam "Pacman" Jones. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was at the game, said beforehand, "I think we're ready now to get the focus back on football."
The game was tied 10-10 after a sloppy first half.
But Manning, who finished 18-of-30 for 288 yards, led two quick TD drives in the first 8:49 of the second half as the Colts put up 24 points in 20 minutes after intermission. On the first drive, Manning hit Harrison for 42 yards to set up a 2-yard TD run by Addai. Then the Super Bowl MVP came right back to throw a 28-yard TD pass to Wayne.
PEYTON MANNING Quarterback, Indianapolis Colts
"NFL games are 60 minutes long. We were a little out of synch in the first half" coach Tony Dungy said. "They played us defensively a little different than we thought. We knew we had to run the ball a little more."
New Orland cornerback Jason David produced the Saints' only TD, stripping Wayne after a second-quarter completion, picking up the ball and returning it 55 yards for the score.
"We don't do that," Manning said when asked if he deliberately went at David. "We had the right calls at the right time. With Marvin and Reggie, you're always going to throw it to those guys. If you have
Manning was just 8-of-17 for 101 yards in the first half, 66 of those on two completions: the 27-yard TD to Harrison, plus 39 on a throw to Dallas Clark that set up
Adam Vinatieri's 33-yard field goal that tied the game at 10.
But the Saints, who reached the NFC title game last season before losing to Chicago, never could get their potent offense going.
They had just 112 total yards in the first half, and Bush and Deuce McAllister each had just 21 yards rushing before intermission against a made-over Indianapolis defense. That unit included undrafted rookie Ed Johnson at defensive tackle in place of the injured Anthony McFarland.
Both finished with just 38 yards, Bush on 12 carries and McAllister on 10. Brees was 27-of-40 for 183 yards and two interceptions.
The Colts took a 7-0 lead on the Manning-to-Harrison TD in the first quarter, David's play tied the game, and Mare's field goal put the Saints up 10-7. That lasted until the late drive keyed by the Manning-Clark hookup.
Then the Colts took over com-
pletely in the second half.
The Manning-Wayne 45-yarder made it 34-10 early in the fourth quarter and Matt Giordano's 83-yard interception capped the win.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, right, and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees meet after a 41-10 CLO win in NFL football action in Indianapolis, Thursday. Manning tied for 288 yards while Brees struggled with 2 interceptions.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Middle Tennessee quarterback Joe Craddock, right, rushes past Louisville defender Malik Jackson during their game in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday. The Cardinals retained their perfect start to the season by surviving the gun battle. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Louisville barely avoids big upset
BY WILL GRAVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Brian Brohm threw for a career-high 401 yards and five touchdowns and Anthony Allen added a school-record 275 yards rushing and two scores as No. 8 Louisville avoided a major upset by surviving Middle Tennessee 58-42 Thursday night at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Mario Urrutia, Gary Barnidge and Harry Douglas all topped 100 yards receiving as the Cardinals (2-0) extended the nation's second-longest home winning streak to 20 games.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
It wasn't easy. The Blue Raiders (0-2) never led, but the Sun Belt Conference champions never let the Cardinals get comfortable.
Despite Brohm being at his efficient best, the Blue Raiders nearly matched the high-powered Cardinals in a game that featured 1,284 yards from scrimmage, 13 touchdowns and no defense on either side.
Middle Tennessee quarterback Joe Craddock threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns and Phillip Tanner added 144 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the Blue Raiders.
DeMarco McNair ran for 72 yards and a score and caught three passes for 92 yards and a touchdown for Middle Tennessee. When Louisville opened the game with an 81-yard touchdown pass from Brohm to Barnidge on the first play from scrimmage, it took the Blue Raiders all of three plays to tie the game as Craddock hit McNair for a 78-yard score. It was the salvoins in a
Things never really slowed down. Louisville scored on its first six possessions, but led only 38-35 at the break as the Blue Raiders baffled a Louisville defense that seemed out of position most of the time and unable to get its hands on the slippery Tanner.
Brohm would lead the Cardinals down the field, and the Blue Raiders would respond, shredding a Louisville defense that appeared confused by the myriad of formations Middle Tennessee threw on the field.
The Blue Raiders kept responding so quickly, the Cardinals changed tactics, opting to grind it out with Allen for most of the second half.
Allen responded with the best game of his career.
dizzying first five minutes that had five touchdowns.
A 48-yard run in the fourth quarter set up a short touchdown pass from Brohm to Douglas, and he allowed the Cardinals to run out the clock after Malik Jackson picked off Craddock in the end zone with less than seven minutes to go.
The Blue Raiders raised serious concerns about Louisville's defense. Middle Tennessee piled up 555 yards of total offense.
Even worse, the Cardinals seemed to lose their composure on several occasions. Louisville was penalized nine times for 98 yards, including four personal fouls.
Louisville finished with 729 yards of total offense and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes.
LA VIE EN ROSE
FRI: (4:00) 6:45
SAT: (1:15) (4:00) 6:45
SUN: (4:00) 6:45
BECOMING JANE
FRI: 9:30 ONLY
SAT: (1:40) 9:30
SUN: (1:30) 9:30
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm throws a pass in front of Middle Tennessee defender Tavares James. Louisville put up a school-record 131 points in its first two games.
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