Comeback kid: Freeman, Bucs rally at Vikings 24-20

Football Betting Lines

09/19/2011 -

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Wearing No. 5 on his chest and orchestrating another fourth-quarter comeback with his big right arm and confidence-instilling poise, Josh Freeman sure looked like a young Donovan McNabb as he rallied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Even though he was on the losing side, McNabb couldn't help but be impressed.

Freeman helped erase a 17-0 halftime deficit and LeGarrette Blount's 4-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds remaining lifted the Bucs to a 24-20 victory over the Vikings on Sunday.

Freeman threw for 243 yards, one TD and one interception, directing two touchdown drives in the final eight minutes of the game for the eighth fourth-quarter comeback of his young career.

``I thought Josh did a wonderful job of keeping his composure, being a great leader and leading his team to a big victory,'' McNabb said. ``When the chips were down, they were able to keep confidence in themselves. Josh did a great job leading the charge, but this is a game we should've won. No doubt about it.''

The Vikings dominated the first 30 minutes, outgaining the Bucs 284-62 and getting two touchdown runs from Adrian Peterson to take their big first-half lead.

But Blount ripped off a 27-yard TD run early in the third quarter to get the Bucs on the board, and Freeman didn't let an interception in the end zone rattle him. He connected with Arrelious Benn on a 25-yard TD pass with 6:39 to play, then was 5 for 6 for 46 yards to move the Bucs down in position for Blount's TD.

``I just try to win,'' Freeman said. ``That's all there is to it. It's as simple as it goes.''

The Vikings wish it were that easy. They've held a halftime lead in their first two games, including a 17-7 advantage at San Diego last week, only to have them slip away down the stretch.

``When you control a game for as long as we did and don't finish games, it's very frustrating and disappointing for our team,'' Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. ``It's something that we have to figure out real soon, otherwise we'll continue to be in this situation. We're playing too well early to not finish games the way we need to.''

The Bucs began the go-ahead drive at their 39-yard line and got to the Vikings 16 by the two-minute warning, but Frazier chose not to use any of Minnesota's three timeouts.

``I really had confidence we were going to stop them,'' Frazier said.

Peterson rushed for 120 yards and McNabb shrugged off last week's abysmal 39 yards passing to complete 18 of 30 throws for 228 yards. But the Vikings (0-2) only managed a field goal in the second half to let the Bucs (1-1) back into the game.

``My first thought that goes through my mind is, 'Wow, we gave the game away,''' Peterson said.

After expressing frustration he wasn't more involved last week, Blount finished with 71 yards and two scores on 13 carries. Preston Parker had six catches for 98 yards and the Bucs got going just in time to avoid falling to 0-2.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris wore a hat to his postgame press conference that read ``Youngry.''

``This team, I told you, they're just young and hungry,'' Morris said proudly.

So what do you call that first half, then?

``No, youngry was the second half,'' Morris quipped. ``The first half was badly.''

The Buccaneers had only three first downs in the first half and couldn't keep defensive ends Jared Allen and Brian Robison out of Freeman's face. The 6-foot-6 quarterback was constantly under pressure, but never wavered. He started getting rid of the ball sooner in the second half to neutralize the rush and even an interception on an ill-advised throw off his back foot into the end zone didn't faze him.

``He doesn't blink,'' Morris said. ``He's not a blinker. He's going to come out and control the game and control his people and win football games.''

NOTES: The Vikings have started 0-2 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2001-02. They started 0-4 in 2002. ... After failing to complete a pass to a tight end in the opener, McNabb connected three times with Visanthe Shiancoe and targeted TEs a total of nine times. ... The Buccaneers have won five straight games in this series, dating to 2001, when they were together in the old NFC Central division. ... Through the first half, Blount's season totals were 10 carries and 19 yards. He now has 18 rushes for 90 yards. ... Bucs LB Mason Foster had 10 tackles and a sack.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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