Deuce McAllister trotted out on the field today for his first start since early in the 2007 season in which he tore an ACL in his left knee. Fans have been anxiously awaiting his return...he'd not disappoint them! McAllister gave the Saints the power running game they lacked for the first 3 games this season. He converted first down after first down, It allowed QB Drew Brees to do what he does best...burn DB's with his arm.

In the Saints two losses they failed to convert critical third and ones, for Deuce that wasn't a problem at all. Even when he was hit at the line of scrimmage he kept plowing forward. Sure he may have loss a step or two but his vision and power is still there. At 6'1 230 pounds S.F. had no answer for such a strong running back. Deuce ended the game with 20 carries for 73 yds 1 TD and converted a third down with a 10 yard catch.

Deuce said after the game that he could go another quarter and right now the knee feels fine. He also pointed out though that he took no real shot to the legs. With the S.F. keying in on Reggie Bush and doing a real good job of holding him down, Deuce was a real key to the Saints coming away with a win. Then there was also the best QB playing right now Drew Brees that was unstoppable as well.

Brees was on target today with the exception of one INT that was just a great play on the part of Takeo Spikes who leaped up to snatch the ball out the air. Brees numbers on the day 23-of-35 for 363 yards and three scores, including touchdowns of 47 yards to Robert Meachem and 33 yards to Lance Moore. Brees also set up scores with a 52-yard pass to Meachem on a flea flicker involving McAllister, and an 81-yard connection with Devery Henderson.

Brees has been throwing for nearly 400 yds a game lately, all this with the Saints best threat Marques Colston not playing with a torn ligament in his thumb. Lance Moore who probably has the best hands on the team outside of Colston came up huge all game long. Moore had 7 receptions for 101 yds and 2 TD's. Robert Meachem also had a long touch down catch with good coverage on him.

The Saints have been lighting it up in the pass game, however they still had two losses in the past two weeks. The defense stepped up big this week. They sacked J.T. O'Sullivan 4 times one was by DE Will Smith that caused a fumble which the Saints recoverd. They also picked JT off twice in the endzone to stop S.F. from gaining any momentum late in the game.

As good as the whole team played the story of the day was still Deuce McAllister.

"We anticipated (McAllister) playing," San Francisco coach Mike Nolan said. "He did a good job, but the things that hurt us the most were the explosive plays we gave up."

In close losses at Washington and Denver, the Saints (2-2) were stuffed on a half-dozen short-yardage situations. Saints fans flooded call-in shows with complaints about coach Sean Payton's reluctance to play McAllister, who'd had only two carries -- but gained 5 yards on each -- during the opening three weeks.

Payton said he was trying to be cautious and would play the 29-yard-old McAllister when the time was right. With San Francisco allowing an average of 131 yards rushing coming in, this was the right time.

"It was great to see Deuce back in there," Payton said. "We just felt by the nature of the game plan that this week we had a chance to run the ball a little bit more.

"Those were some tough yards that he was getting for us."

It's great to have Deuce back and he'll give the Saints another option and will also make things easier for Reggie Bush and Brees. With both Deuce and Bush in the game it will keep defenses on their toes and force them to use less blitzes.  Brees is already dangerous throwing the ball so that doesn't bode well for opposing teams.

This was a much needed win considering that Carolina and Tampa are on a roll. The Saints next few games are at home and then the bye. After which both Colston and Shockey should return to the lineup, When that happens lookout!

Thursday night nobody and not even myself would have thought Oregon St. would take down the mighty USC Trojans. Today when Ole Miss took on the Florida it was another one of those type of games that had you scratching your head wondering what's the heck is going on.

Ole Miss. went toe to toe with the Gators and came away with a 1 point win courtesy of a blocked extra point. Florida's defense made one more stop giving Teabow and Harvin one last shot at getting into field goal range for the win. After to attempts to go long for the TD Florida was faced with a fourth and 1but Teabow was stopped cold by the Miss. D-line.

With both the #1 team USC lossing a shocker and Ole Miss. upsetting the #4 team, not to mention Georgia and Alabama two top 10 teams playing each other today, the polls will surely be shaking up come tomorrow.

Teams like BYU nad Penn. St. will more than likely get the respect they deserve. OU and LSU if they beat Miss. St. this evening will move a step or two closer to the top spot. It will be interesting to see who will be the top two teams when the new standings are released.

College football has become a whole different animal than it once was, with so much parity upsets are sure to continue throughout this season and beyond. It's become so much harder for any team from any BCS conference to go undefeated like they once did.

One thing is certain and that's both USC and Florida have plenty of time to climb back up the polls. For USC it will be a little harder as they have no ranked teams at the moment left on their schedule, Florida however still has to play both LSU and Georgia. Winning both those games could go a long way in helping them get back in a NC title hunt.

So far another crazy season in CFB and it's sure to get even crazier as we move along!