Young wins return, Johnson runs for record 227 yards as Titans snap skid routing Jaguars 30-13

Young, Titans win 1st of ‘09, beat Jaguars 30-13

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee owner Bud Adams sure seems to know his quarterbacks, and now his Titans are no longer winless after he prompted a switch to Vince Young.

He threw for a touchdown in his first start since the 2008 season opener, Chris Johnson set a franchise record by rushing for 228 yards, and the Tennessee Titans won their first game of the season by routing the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-13 Sunday.

The Titans (1-6) had been the only winless team left in the NFL along with Tampa Bay, which had an off week, and Tennessee’s skid of eight straight went back to the end of last season.

That’s why Adams wanted Kerry Collins benched for Young.

Johnson helped Young by scoring on runs of 52 and 89 yards, and the Titans eased Young in with lots of short throws and runs to work off any rust. It worked as Young was 15 of 18 for 125 yards, and ran 10 times for 32 yards not counting two final kneel downs.

Jacksonville (3-4) now has lost two of three. Maurice Jones-Drew provided the lone highlights, running for 177 yards and taking the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns with runs of 80 and 79 yards. But the Jaguars only gave him eight carries.

David Garrard shredded Tennessee for 323 yards when the Jaguars routed the Titans 37-17 on Oct. 4. They never let him get started this time, sacking him four times, intercepting him twice and hitting him repeatedly. The Titans held the ball for more than 39 minutes and outgained the Jaguars 430-330.

Tennessee couldn’t have opened the game with a much better script.

The change to Young was made to try providing a spark to an offense that had been outscored 127-26 over the past three games and hadn’t scored a touchdown since that visit to Jacksonville.

All eyes were on Young, the No. 3 overall pick in 2006 and that season’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. He also was the quarterback booed in his last start on this field after the very same Jaguars came up with two interceptions.

This time, he was met with cheers when introduced from fans hopeful he could stop the losing.

Young got lucky when Jaguars cornerback Derek Cox dropped a would-be interception in the end zone on the opening drive. But he made plenty of nice throws, including his 6-yarder to Nate Washington at 9:19 of the second quarter that ended Tennessee’s TD drought at nine quarters.

He also kept the go-ahead TD drive alive when he backpedaled away from pressure, then found Kenny Britt on the sideline with a good pass for a 7-yard completion on third-and-6.

With Jones-Drew ripping off runs, it looked as if the Jaguars could keep pace with Tennessee as the Titans settled for three field goals from Rob Bironas. Jones-Drew’s second TD run tied it at 13 just 23 seconds into the third quarter, but Michael Griffin blocked Josh Scobee’s extra point attempt to keep Jacksonville from taking the lead.

Johnson answered for Tennessee.

He capped a seven-play drive with a 52-yard TD run to put the Titans ahead to stay at 20-13, and his 89-yard TD run at the start of the fourth pushed it to 30-13. That gave him 220 yards rushing and the franchise record, topping 216 yards by both Eddie George and Billy Cannon.