SAN FRANCISCO — Frank Gore was the star of the 49ers 13-6 win over the Seattle Seahawks. He spoke at the podium after the game, and here’s what he said, courtesy of the 49ers.
Did you have the feeling that the game was going to be like this, where you get the ball a lot?
“I just felt like whenever my coach called my number, I tried my best. My o-line did a great job.”
You left the field early, are you injured?
“I’ll be alright. [Head] coach [Jim Harbaugh] just wanted to be smart. We’ve got a long season and a tough road down the stretch. We’ve got another division game. We wanted to be smart. We have other great backs, [RB] Kendall Hunter, [RB] Brandon Jacobs, [RB] Anthony Dixon who does positive things to help our team. He just wanted to be smart and I just listened to him.”
What happened?
“I kind of got speared, hit in the back on a check down back in the second quarter. It was a good hit, good play by Seattle.”
Until the start of the second half, you hadn’t been touching the ball a whole lot. Was it nice, you had 10 carries in the second half?
“I just told myself, when coach calls my number, I have to be ready. I just got in a rhythm. My o-line, the receivers did a great job blocking and I feel like once I get a rhythm, I can’t be stopped.”
A lot of those yards in the second half came right up the middle, how well were your interior lineman blocking today?
“They did a great job. Coach G-Ro [offensive coordinator Greg Roman] did a great job scheming them up. As long as everybody’s on one page, we can do great things in the running game. I think playing with coach G-Ro for my second year, I think he’s probably the best coordinator I’ve ever played with especially in the running game. He’s a genius. We’ve just got to keep it up, as a team, as a unit. Just keep going.”
Some of your offensive linemen last week in the locker room were saying that they really wanted to get that old school 49er football, power running game going. Did they talk to you about that, did you hear anyone discussing that?
“I’m going to go back to last week. I think we could have been in a game like this, like a 6-3 game, we could have done the same thing last week, but we kind of hurt ourselves last week. But this week, this Thursday night game, we were still in the game and had a chance to stay balanced on the offensive side of the ball. That’s why I think we came out on top tonight.”
Do you guys, when you play a Thursday night game, you only have three days in between. Can you feel it in the first quarter?
“Our coaches take care of us well, we did a lot of stuff during the week that didn’t hurt our bodies. So we didn’t care, especially coming off of that loss in a big game against the Giants, playing a divisional rival in Seattle who has a great team. We just wanted to come out on top and we did.”
When you were breaking away in the second half on a couple of those runs, could you feel your back at all?
“Just when I was getting down and taking deep breaths, breathing hard. I just wanted to be smart. We’ve got depth at the position and my little brother Kendall, I know that he can make a big play anytime he’s in. So, I’m comfortable with 32 in the game. I had to listen to my coaches and that’s what I did.”
Across the sidelines you have another great back, Marshawn Lynch, had a great game. Are you cognizant of what he’s doing during the game, are you paying attention?
“I like Marshawn, he’s a like a bulldog. Whenever two backs who are top guys in the league -you want to compete. I’m home and that’s why I wasn’t going to let him outdo me tonight. Our defense did a great job. He did a great job too. He’s a great back, he’s a hard-nosed back I respect. I’m just happy that we came out on top and we’re No. 1 in the division right now.”
How big is that, the fact that you guys now have that division lead? Is that fresh in your guys’ minds?
“Always. Our goal is to win the division. Our first division game, we wanted to come out on top. We knew Seattle was going to come in and play us hard. We kept playing 49er ball and we won.”
You said Greg Roman is a genius. Were you more impressed by his gameplan or his halftime adjustments?
“With everything. Coming into the game and knowing what we have to do. When we come out for the second half, he adjusts to it. Like I said earlier, and I’ve played with some great coordinators, Norv Turner, but I think coach G-Ro is probably the best right now.”
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