LSU slams North Texas 41-3
After watching the New Orleans Saints fall to the Washington Redskins 29-24 there is just one word to describe the loss, disappointing.
The Saints were not the better team this past Sunday. They were really outplayed by the Redskins, especially in the trenches along both the offensive and defensive lines, but in the third quarter due to miscues by the Redskins and a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown by Reggie Bush, the Saints had a 24-15.
New Orleans looked as though they were going to steal a big victory on the road against the Skins, but they just couldn’t seal the deal.
On offense the Saints seemed to run out of steam late and on a couple of occasions could not convert on third and short situations and they handed the ball right back to the Redskins’ offense.
There is no doubt this football club misses the inside running skills of Deuce McAllister, who did carry the ball a couple of times in the contest – 2 carries for 10 yards-no matter what the coaching staff and his teammates say.
Defensively the Saints had bent, but not broke open all day long, but in the fourth quarter they gave up 169 total yards, two touchdowns, and a huge 67-yard pass play from Jason Campbell to Santana Moss to lose the lead.
The Saints were missing a number of top players on the defensive side of the ball and they were indeed spread thin, but it came down to the team’s inability to stop Redskins halfback Clinton Portis, who rushed for 96 yards on 21 carries and scored 2 rushing touchdowns and Skins quarterback Jason Campbell.
The former Auburn quarterback, who had very little pressure put on him Sunday, completed 24 of his 36 passes for 321 yards, one touchdown and no pass interceptions.
Campbell did not play particularly well in the first three quarters, but when it all counted he out played Saints signal-caller Drew Brees.
Give Campbell full credit for hitting big play after big play to get his team back the lead in the fourth quarter.
And when the game was on the line the Redskins went after Saints rookie cornerback Tracy Porter and Skins speedy wide-out Santana Moss took full advantage of Porter’s inexperience at the position.
Even more disappointing was watching two former Louisiana-athletes at safety for the Redskins, LaRon Landry (Hahnville High, Louisiana State University) and Chris Horton (De La Salle High School, UCLA) make critical pass breakups and in the case of Horton, two pass interceptions that helped the Skins win the contest.
Now, the Saints travel to Denver to play another young and very talented quarterback in Jay Cutler and a budding young superstar wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
Playing and winning in Denver will be tough, but the sting of this loss to the Redskins will linger with this club for quite a while.
While Saints head coach Sean Payton got a new three-year extension through the 2012 season and a contract that is estimated to be in the range of $4 million dollars a season, this slip-away game against Washington will be tough for him and his coaching staff to swallow.
The best rivalry in college football
Forget about Ohio State vs. Michigan, USC vs. UCLA, Texas vs. Oklahoma, Florida vs. Florida State, the best watching game for college football fans over the last four years has been LSU vs. Auburn.
These two teams have put on a real show the last four years that no other rivalry can match in that same time frame.
In the last four years in these games, the teams have split the series 2-2 and the margin of victory in these four games has been a total of 16 points.
Last season it came down to the final seconds of play when LSU quarterback Matt Flynn connected with wide receiver Demetrius Byrd on a 22-yard touchdown pass with one second left in play to give the Tigers a 30-24 victory.
The home team has won the last eight straight games in this series and with the Auburn Tigers sporting a 3-0 record and only allowing 15 points in their first three games and the LSU Tigers sporting a 2-0 record this season, expect a low scoring, tough, very hard-nosed affair in which will come down to the final seconds before it is decided.
For college football fans across the country there has been no other game that you would rather watch than the LSU-Auburn showdown and expect this year to be no different.
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