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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- If the replacements continue playing like
this, the Jacksonville Jaguars may never let their starters come
back.
With most of their first-teamers and all of their offensive line
battered and bruised, the Jaguars went into the game knowing
backups would have to carry the team.
The alternates did, scoring three touchdowns -- including two
scores from seldom-used running back Stacey Mack, in a 34-14
victory over the Carolina Panthers in a preseason opener Friday
night.
"I'm proud of our team, part of your deal is working against
the odds working against adversity," Jacksonville coach Tom
Coughlin said. "I wanted people to be supportive of each other and
enjoy other people's success and I think we got that."
Mack, who carried the ball just seven times during his rookie
season, scored on a 5-yard touchdown run and returned the
second-half kickoff 94 yards for another score. He credited his
performance to the Jaguars' offensive line, which came into the
game weakened by seven injuries to their blockers and not a single
starter in the game.
"Those guys on the line tonight, I don't think one of them was
in for a single snap last season," Mack said. "But they came in
tonight and stepped it up and opened holes for us and made my job
easy."
Jacksonville also got a touchdown from third-team running back
Chris Howard and field goals of 42 and 22 yards from Mike Hollis.
Mark Brunell started Jacksonville's scoring with a 39-yard pass
to Jimmy Smith on the only series the first-team offense played.
Brunell finished 3-for-3 for 64 yards.
"I thought the offensive line, for all the heat it took this
week about being inexperienced, really played well," Brunell said.
"They should be proud of their effort."
Carolina didn't play Reggie White, Eric Swann and Chuck Smith,
its three big offseason acquisitions, and never showed any of the
defensive improvement the Panthers hope to attain.
The Panthers gave up 367 total yards -- 264 passing.
"Am I concerned about what happened tonight? You bet I am,"
Carolina coach George Seifert said. "But is it time to crawl into
a foxhole? No."
Carolina's offense wasn't much better than its defense.
With Steve Beuerlein skipping the game while he recovers from
five offseason surgeries, backups Jeff Lewis and Dameyune Craig
continued their battle for the No. 2 quarterback position.
Neither fared very well.
Lewis, listed as the backup, was 7-of-12 for 62 yards with a
fumble and an interception. His fumble, which came on the second
play of the game, led to Jacksonville's first score. The
interception ended a Carolina scoring threat when Hardy Nickerson
picked him off at Jacksonville's 13-yard line.
Craig was 8-for-14 and lost a fumble, but threw a 9-yard
touchdown pass to Casey Crawford.
"I'd like to have expected more, but it was a pretty tall order
for the both of them," Seifert said. "Both of them looked good on
a couple of plays, both of them had difficulties."
Jacksonville had a 17-7 lead when Mack took the opening kickoff
of the second half up the left sideline, broke two tackles, and
went untouched into the end zone for a 24-7 lead.
"I thought he was going to be caught, I really did," Coughlin
said. "When a Carolina player came up on his heels, he was just to
big of a man and they couldn't bring him down."
Howard made it 31-7 one series later on a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Jaguars recovered Craig's fumbled snap on the 24-yard line and
Howard scored five plays later.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Jacksonville Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
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