Late-night call leads to Frank Gore rushing for 207 yards

SAN FRANCISCO — It was around 2 a.m. on the Sunday night after the 49ers' season-opening win over Arizona when the telephone at offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye's home rang, waking him up.

Running back Frank Gore was on the other end, frustrated and needing to talk after carrying 22 times for just 30 yards. Raye wasn't surprised that Gore called. He said he'd had calls in the middle of the night from other great running backs he has coached, including Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson and Curtis Martin.

"All the great running backs ... have so much pride in their performance," Raye said Sunday, after the 49ers' 23-10 win over Seattle. "Basically the call was more for reassurance that we're going in the right direction."

Gore certainly went in the right direction against the Seahawks, scoring on runs of 79 and 80 yards, the two longest runs of his career. He became just the second player in NFL history to rush for two touchdowns of at least 75 yards in the same game, joining Barry Sanders, who did it in 1997.

Gore carried 16 times for 207 yards, finishing 5 yards short of his career high, which came against Seattle in 2006. Gore did that damage despite spraining his right ankle late in the third quarter and missing much of the fourth quarter.

"I was kind of frustrated," Gore said of his late-night call to Raye. "I told him to keep sticking with it."

On the 49ers' first drive, Gore carried six times for 24 yards, helping set up a field goal.

The next time Gore touched the ball, he took a handoff on first down from the 49ers' 21 and shot through a hole over left guard. Gore broke free at the 40. He glanced at the big screen in the north end zone and noticed cornerback Ken Lucas and safety Jordan Babineaux in pursuit. So he angled to his right and dove into the end zone before they could catch him.

"When I got out there I told myself I'm not looking back," Gore said.

Gore rushed for 126 yards by halftime. And on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage in the second half, he added 80 yards to his total. Once again he went over left guard and outran Lucas and Babineaux.

"When you have a downhill, hard runner like that you have to make sure everything is closed up," Seahawks defensive tackle Craig Terrill said. "One thing he does really well is finding the open hole."

Gore rarely saw an open hole in Week 1. This time, there were plenty of openings.

"I think a little bit of it had to do with us being a little bitter about hearing how we couldn't run the ball last week," 49ers left tackle Joe Staley said.

This past offseason, Gore returned to Miami and worked with his college trainer, trying to recapture his 2006 form when he rushed for 1,695 yards.

"I told myself that if I wanted to be one of the top backs in the league, I'd have to dedicate myself in the offseason," Gore said.