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Garrard leads Jaguars past Panthers

Dec 9, 2007 - 11:06 PM JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- David Garrard and the Jacksonville Jaguars' defense were too potent for the Carolina Panthers.

Garrard threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Jaguars to a 37-6 victory over the Panthers on Sunday.

Linebacker Clint Ingram returned an interception for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to break it open for Jacksonville (9-4), which scored 24 unanswered points in the second half in bouncing back from last week's 28-25 loss at Indianapolis.

"I thought it was a real strong second half, and a good finish," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "It was a close ballgame early, knew it would be."

The Jaguars' running game was bottled up until Fred Taylor broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run with 9:48 to play that turned it into a 34-6 laugher.

"Today was the first time in my career I ever used the Jumbotron (scoreboard) to look back," Taylor said. "It was cool, they were about four yards back. It was sweet."

Garrard, who threw his first interception of the season against the Colts, finished 20-of-36 for 230 yards. He threw scoring passes of 22 yards to Reggie Williams and 6 to Matt Jones, giving him 13 TD passes and one pick on the season.

"A good solid day for the offense, over 400 yards of offense and (we)really controlled the clock," Del Rio said."

Taylor rushed for 132 yards on 18 carries, giving him three consecutive 100-yard performances. He also surpassed Eddie George and Tiki Barber, moving into 18th place on the all-time career rushing list with 10,457 yards.

"This was the best I have felt all year as far an overall game," Taylor said. "I was able to catch the ball on short dumps and was able to show signs of a good burst."

Carolina got another abysmal effort from 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde, who completed just 13-of-28 passes for 84 yards and the game-breaking 39-yard interception by Ingram.

"I'm disappointed. I feel like I missed some throws that I could have had - the interception for one," Testaverde said. "There were quite a few plays out there that we let get away today."

Rookie Matt Moore relieved Testaverde in the fourth quarter as the Panthers (5-8) tumbled to their sixth loss in seven games to all but snuff out their postseason hopes.

The Jaguars converted a 4th-and-2 that led to their first touchdown of the game and never relinquished the lead.

After Garrard hit Maurice Jones-Drew for 13 yards on fourth down, he found Williams over the middle for a 22-yard scoring pass and a 7-0 lead with 3:30 to play in the first quarter.

"We got a good feel for what the coaches want and everyone is making plays and stepping up," Garrard said. "The offensive line is giving great time and the guys are making big catches for me."

Jacksonville also gambled on a 4th-and-3 early in the second quarter but failed to convert, leading to Carolina's first score.

John Kasay booted the first of his two field goals to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 11:32 to go in the first half.

Josh Scobee capped a lengthy drive with a 21-yard field goal to extend the Jaguars' lead to 10-3, but a fumble by Taylor helped the Panthers close to within 10-6 at halftime.

Safety Chris Harris hit Taylor and the ball caromed back 23 yards, where defensive end Mike Rucker recovered at Jacksonville's 37-yard line with 2 1/2 minutes to go in the half.

"I'm still upset about that," Taylor said. "He made a good play, gotta give him credit."

That led to Kasay's 39-yard field goal with 67 seconds to go.