The Frank Gore Show
Article by Larry Garcia of Bay Area Sports Drive Magazine
Photos by Al Reyes of Bay Area Sports Drive Magazine
September 20, 2009

Last week, the San Francisco 49ers played defense-defense-defense. This weekend on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in front of 69,732 screaming fans, the 49ers showed both offense and defense as they took on the Seattle Seahawks. This was the 22nd contest between the two teams.

In the 49ers home record vs. Seattle: the 49ers lead the series 3-6. In their first meeting on 9-26-76, 49ers won 37-21 at Seattle.  The last meeting was on 10 26-08; Seattle won 34-13 in San Francisco. The 49ers split the series in 2008 with Seattle.

In this game the 49ers opened up on offense led by a great run courtesy of Frank Gore for 79 yards and the touchdown that gave the 49ers the lead of 7-0. The 49ers would have had a second score when Allen Rossum romped for 75 yards but the play was negated by a penalty.  Glen Coffee was called for an illegal block to the back. The ever reliable kicker Joe Nedney turned in three field goals.

In the first quarter with 5:38 left on the clock, the 49ers struck gold first on a Joe Nedney 37 yard field goal, then with 2:36 on the clock Frank Gore ran 79 yards into the end zone to give the 49ers a 10-0 lead.

Seattle finally put up points on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter. Seahawk kicker Mare put three on the board with a 36 yard field goal to make it 10-3 49ers.  The 49ers struck back with 2:57 for a 42-yard field goal to make it 13-3. With 0:22 seconds on the clock in the second quarter the Seahawks struck back by scoring on a one yard TD pass from quarterback Seneca Wallace to Julius Jones to close the gap. The 49ers took the 13-10 lead into the locker room.

In the opening of the 3rd quarter with 14:49 on the clock it was another Frank Gore burst up the middle for an 80 yard TD to give the 49ers a 20-10 lead. By the third quarter, Frank Gore had accumulated a career high 246 yards.  Gore paid the price with a right ankle sprain in the 4th quarter and was announced as questionable.  He was out for the rest of the game.

After the game, Gore spoke about his two long runs for TDs, "I told myself, 'I'm not looking back,'" Gore said. "I told myself: 'Hey, if they're going to catch me, they're going to catch me. I'm just going to look straight ahead.”

Gore is the second player in NFL history to have two TD runs of 79 or more yards in the same game, joining the ranks of Barry Sanders.  Sanders had runs of 80 and 82 yards at Tampa Bay on Oct. 12, 1997.  When Gore was asked about his thoughts on making some history, Gore said, "Hey, I'm happy. I didn't know that. We're 2-0 in our division. We proved to a lot of people we're getting better and better."

Quarterback Shaun Hill was 19 of 26 for 144 yards with 17 yards rushing. Gore rushed for 207 yards and had five receptions for 39 yards for a total of 246 yards and two touchdown. The 49ers are off to a good start for the 2009 season winning the first two games of their season giving them the 2-0 record. Hill talked about Gore and how impressed he was with him, “Idon’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that,” said Shaun Hill. “Frank was running away from people. That guy… he’s impressive.”

With another field goal from Joe Nedney for 39 yards, the 49ers put up the final points for the 23-10 win. Nedney had three field goals of 37-42 and 39 yards. Although the 49ers dominated Seattle, Head coach Mike Singletary was not content. “We left too much on the table,” said Singletary.  “We have to do a better job on third-and-long. We have to do a better job of overall cleaning it up so that we can compete with anyone.”

Next up for the 49ers, are the “Purple People Eaters”;  Brett Favre and company.  San Francisco will travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings, and just maybe (pending his sprained ankle) treat those fans to another Frank Gore Show.