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Manning eager to follow in his father’s footsteps

4 min read

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A quarterback named Manning lit up the scoreboard several times at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium here – back when Archie was making himself into an Ole Miss legend. Based on recent defensive performances by the New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning can expect to make some plays Saturday night in the state where his father has long since been lionized.

“Obviously, I have great ties to Mississippi. My family went to Ole Miss, and I’m excited to be playing there,” said Peyton Manning, who played his college ball at Tennessee. “I’m looking forward to having a big crowd.”

And big numbers?

Facing quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo in a 30-7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, the Saints gave up 294 yards and three touchdown passes.

Desperate to improve, the New Orleans defense now tests itself against one of the most prolific passers in the NFL. And since this is the third preseason game, many of the starters are expected to play into the third quarter.

“It’s going to be quite interesting for all of us to see collectively what we come up with versus them,” Saints cornerback Mike McKenzie said. “They definitely have a good group, so it will definitely be a challenge for us.”

Former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, who will be up in the booth for a New Orleans television broadcast, went 7-1 at the stadium in Jackson while he was college. He also won a high school all-star game there.

The hulking horseshoe-shaped structure, which in the past has hosted the annual Egg Bowl between Mississippi and Mississippi State and was once Walter Payton’s home stadium when he played for Jackson State, holds 60,492. More than 50,000 tickets had been sold by Friday for a game that will feature players on both teams who enjoy royalty status in Mississippi.

Deuce McAllister, a former Ole Miss star who has car dealerships in Jackson and is helping renovate an historic downtown hotel here, will line up for the Saints for what should amount to his first sustained action of the preseason.

Recovering from a right knee injury that kept him out for most of last season, McAllister sat out the Saints’ preseason opener in Tennessee. While he made his season debut against Dallas, he carried the ball only twice for 8 yards.

The Saints envision the powerful McAllister and dynamic Reggie Bush shredding defenses with an array of runs and short passes designed by new, offensive-minded coach Sean Payton. That hasn’t happened yet.

The highlight of New Orleans’ preseason so far has been a 44-yard run by Bush two games ago – and that came on a broken play during which the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner ad-libbed and used his blazing speed to reverse fields.

Against Dallas, New Orleans went three plays and out on its first three possessions.

And the Saints still don’t have a touchdown with new quarterback Drew Brees on the field.

“We still believe in our offense. We still believe in the system,” McAllister said. “We have to gain some confidence going into that regular season opener.”

Confidence is less of an issue for the Super Bowl-contending Colts, who have no reason to worry about the fact they rarely win in the preseason. Indianapolis has lost eight straight preseason games and nine of 10. But the final score means little in exhibition games, where the main concerns are sorting out who should start and how sharp the projected starters look.

Indianapolis has some players fighting to solidify first-string slots.

Running backs Dominic Rhodes and first-round pick Joseph Addai are battling to replace Edgerrin James, while at cornerback, Nick Harper, Jason David and Marlin Jackson are competing for two spots.

“The first group knows it will play into the second half and will have to come in, make some adjustments, go back out and get warmed up again,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “Everyone, I think, knows we want to be sharp and play a good two-plus quarters.”

To avoid injuries, coaches tend to play starters very little in the fourth and final preseason game. So for the Saints, the pressure is on to show a semblance of continuity and consistency on both sides of the ball on Saturday, and their new coach knows it.

“You want to come away from this one feeling pretty good prior to your last preseason game,” Payton said. “I’m just glad that wasn’t our last preseason game – the one we played Monday night.”

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