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10/12/08 - 10:11 PM
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Sharief Ishaq - bio
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Even more accurate than usual, Drew Brees
conducted a clinic that JaMarcus Russell would be wise to study.
Brees connected on 87 percent of his passes for 320 yards and
three touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints routed the Oakland
Raiders 34-3 Sunday.
“You have to use him as a model if you are the Oakland
Raiders,” said new Oakland coach Tom Cable, who took over last
week for the fired Lane Kiffin. “That’s where we want (Russell) to
get.”
Cable spent his NFL head coaching debut watching in frustration
as Russell - drafted first overall in 2007 - completed only 13 of
35 passes for 159 yards, while throwing an interception and
fumbling.
Brees needed only 14 attempts to surpass Russell’s completion
total. Coming in with a completion rate of nearly 69 percent, Brees
connected on his first 16 throws - one short of his franchise
record - and finished 26-of-30. Of his four incompletions, two were
throwaways.
So what did Brees do after the game? He apologized to his
offensive line for holding the ball too long on the lone sack he
took.
“I wasn’t feeling pressure all day,” Brees said. “We knew the
type of pass rush this defense could bring. I felt like we held
most of those guys at bay.”
Reggie Bush scored two TDs on a 3-yard run and 15-yard
reception. His 21-yard reception in the first quarter gave him 200
catches through his first 34 games, tying him with Arizona receiver
Anquan Boldin as the quickest NFL players to reach 200 catches.
Bush did most of the work on his receiving score, spinning away
from Gibril Wilson after a short catch over the middle and racing
to the pylon. Still, Bush credited Brees with spotting him.
“Fortunately for me, Drew likes to check the ball down to the
running backs,” Bush said. “It helps when you have a guy like
that who can see the field and see the open guy.”
Russell, who grew up in Mobile, Ala., starred at LSU and had
about 40 friends and family in attendance, could not have had much
worse of a homecoming.
“It’s disappointing losing in front of family,” Russell said.
“The bottom line is today was a loss and losses are always
disappointing.”
In addition to an interception by cornerback Jason David,
Russell had four other incompletions nearly picked off. Two were
dropped by safety Roman Harper and the others by David and safety
Josh Bullocks.
Oakland (1-4), which finished with 226 total yards, also had a
tough time running. After holding Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson to
1.5 yards per carry a week ago, the Saints (3-3) were able to
contain the Raiders’ trio of Darren McFadden, Justin Fargas and
Michael Bush, who combined for 74 yards.
By contrast, Oakland’s defense had no chance against Brees,
whose completions included hard throws over the middle, touch
passes in the flat and deep balls. His first scoring pass was an
8-yard screen to reserve running back Aaron Stecker on third-and-7.
His final TD toss was a 2-yarder to tight end Mark Campbell, which
was Campbell’s first touchdown since he joined New Orleans in 2006.
On a third-and-short, Brees completed a 51-yard pass to Devery
Henderson, setting up one of Taylor Mehlhaff’s two field goals in
what was the kicker’s NFL debut.
Brees, who now has 1,993 yards passing through six games, had
completions to three wide receivers, three tight ends and three
running backs.
“He doesn’t have a favorite,” Oakland cornerback DeAngelo Hall
said. “A lot of quarterbacks will try to force throws because they
have to get the ball to a certain guy, but this is one of the most
unselfish teams I’ve ever seen.”
Lance Moore, normally a reserve when Marques Colston and David
Patten are healthy, had seven catches for 97 yards.
“It’s easy to play when a guy’s on fire like that,” Moore
said.
The Saints also gained 122 yards rushing. Deuce McAllister led
the way with 65 yards on 13 carries.
Johnnie Lee Higgins’ 35-yard punt return to the Saints 39 helped
the Raiders take an early 3-0 lead on Sebastian Janikowski’s
24-yard field goal.
The Saints went ahead for good with an 18-play drive that ate up
10:59 of the second quarter and ended with Bush’s short touchdown
run.
Late in the second quarter, Brees’ completions for 17 yards to
Henderson and 18 yards to Moore set up Mehlhaff’s first field goal
from 44 yards, giving the Saints a 10-3 lead at halftime.
Notes: Janikowski’s missed field goal from 57 yards was the
shortest of his three misses in 13 attempts this season. He missed
another from 59 yards against New Orleans and one from 76 yards
against San Diego in Week 4. ... Mehlhaff missed his first NFL
field goal try and his first kickoff went out of bounds for a
penalty. Two subsequent kickoffs reached the end zone, however. ...
The Saints are 3-1 in the Superdome, where they won’t play again
until meeting Green Bay for a Monday night game on Nov. 24.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

If you mess with the bull you get the horns, or in LSU’s case, mess with the Gator and get your hand bitten of, and
it was obvious that the LSU defense wasn’t ready for Tim Tebow and the Gator offense. Florida rolled up 475 yards and 51 points on one of the best defenses in the country. Tebow held true on his promise to deliver, he threw for 210 yards and 2 td’s. He also had a rushing td in the third quarter, but Tebow wasn’t even the troubling stat. The Tiger defense allowed the Gators to rush for 265 yards, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey combined for 200 yards. The loss left Miles and his Tigers scratching their heads after the game.

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll,
with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 11,
total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one
point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Texas (39) 6-0 1,599 5
2. Alabama (26) 6-0 1,582 2
3. Penn St.  7-0 1,492 6
4. Oklahoma 5-1 1,306 1
5. Florida 5-1 1,284 11
6. Southern Cal 4-1 1,247 8
7. Texas Tech 6-0 1,210 7
8. Oklahoma St.  6-0 1,184 17
9. BYU 6-0 1,131 9
10. Georgia 5-1 1,081 10
11. Missouri 5-1 984 3
12. Ohio St.  6-1 908 12
13. LSU 4-1 893 4
14. Utah 7-0 834 14
15. Boise St.  5-0 714 15
16. Kansas 5-1 620 16
17. Virginia Tech 5-1 540 18
18. North Carolina 5-1 416 22
19. South Florida 5-1 397 19
20. Michigan St.  6-1 371 23
21. Wake Forest 4-1 330 21
22. Vanderbilt 5-1 258 13
23. Pittsburgh 4-1 182 24
24. Ball St.  7-0 166 25
25. California 4-1 115 -
Others receiving votes: Tulsa 84, TCU 61, Minnesota 48, Florida
St. 38, Georgia Tech 25, South Carolina 9, Kentucky 7, Oregon 4,
Northwestern 3, Cincinnati 1, Notre Dame 1.


(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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