Colts take early lead in Super Bowl
Football Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning capped a 96-yard drive with a 19- yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon, giving the Indianapolis Colts a 10-0 lead over New Orleans after one quarter of Super Bowl XLIV.
The Colts are off to a great start in their bid for a second championship in four years. Manning, a four-time league MVP, led the Colts to the Super Bowl title over Chicago following the 2006 season in this same stadium.
He engineered Indy on a scoring drive on the team's first possession with Matt Stover kicking a 38-yard field goal. Garcon's TD grab came with 36 seconds left in the quarter.
The Saints, in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, got the ball first, but went three-and-out. It was the 13th straight year the NFC team has won the coin toss to start the game.
Manning then engineered the Colts on an 11-play, 53-yard march, picking apart the Saints' defense with short passes, and converting a pair of third downs. One of those came on a pass to Dallas Clark and another on a 14-yard connection to Austin Collie, moving the ball to the New Orleans 25.
Another third down pass to Garcon fell incomplete and Stover converted his 16th consecutive field goal in the postseason at the midway point of the period.
Drew Brees, responsible for leading the Saints to the league's top-ranked offense during the season, drove his team to midfield, but a 3rd-and-7 pass to Marques Colston fell incomplete.
Indianapolis was pinned at its four following a punt, but methodically moved down the field with Joseph Addai responsible for 53 yards rushing. He ripped off a 26-yard run on 3rd-and-1, advancing the ball to the 23. Three plays later, Manning, in shotgun formation, found Garcon, who got behind defenders on the right side of the end zone.
The 96-yard march, which took 11 plays, tied the longest drive in Super Bowl history.
The quarter ended with the Saints pinned deep in their territory.
Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney started the game despite not practicing for two weeks due to an ankle injury.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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