Recap
AI summary based on verified facts
Jeff Garcia ran for a touchdown and threw for 243 yards, Charlie Garner caught a touchdown and the 49ers beat the previously unbeaten Tennessee Titans 24-22 at 3Com Park in Garcia's first NFL home start. Garner ran for 69 on 12 carries. Yancey Thigpen caught 6 for 143 and a touchdown; Eddie George caught 3 for 81 and a touchdown for Tennessee. The 49ers led 17-9 at halftime and held on after a fourth-quarter Titans touchdown.[1][2]
Columnist recap
AI summary based on verified facts
Jeff Garcia made his first NFL home start and the 49ers beat the league's only undefeated team 24-22 at 3Com Park. The Sunday at 3Com is the kind of home win that, three weeks into a season-of-uncertainty schedule, anchors the franchise's October.
Garcia threw for 243 yards and ran in a touchdown of his own; the second-year starter who took over for Young in Arizona looked like a quarterback who had been in the system for years. Garner caught a touchdown out of the backfield and ran for 69. Rice had 6 catches for 56. The offensive line gave up four sacks of Garcia but held Jevon Kearse to one half-sack on his first trip to Candlestick Point.
The Titans' offense moved the ball: 425 yards. The 49ers' defense produced three turnovers and held the visitors to two touchdowns on five red-zone trips. Bryant Young, on the field for 90 percent of the defensive snaps, registered his fifth sack of the year. The Sunday's calendar effect is to push the 49ers to 3-1 with the road trip to St. Louis next Sunday. The wire copy is going to spend the column on Garcia's first home start.
By the numbers
AI summary based on verified facts
49ers 24, Titans 22. Margin: plus 2. Record: 3-1, minus 15 differential.
- Garcia: 21-of-33 for 243, 2 TDs, 0 INTs; 8 rushes for 8, 1 rushing TD.
- Garner: 12 carries for 69; 4 catches for 47, 1 TD.
- Rice: 6 catches for 56.
- Cline: 2 catches for 39.
- O'Donnell: 20-of-40 for 355, 2 TDs.
- Thigpen: 6 catches for 143, 1 TD.
- George: 5 carries for 28; 3 catches for 81, 1 TD.
- Quarter scoring: SF 0-17-7-0; TEN 3-6-7-6.
- 49ers third-down conversion: 6-of-13.
Film room
AI summary based on verified facts
A 24-22 home win over the previously unbeaten Titans. The 49ers improve to 3-1 in Jeff Garcia's first NFL home start.
How it unfolded
The Titans opened with a Tennessee field goal. The 49ers responded with a second-quarter outburst: a Garner 4-yard touchdown reception, a Garcia 1-yard rushing touchdown, and a Wade Richey 38-yard field goal to push the lead to 17-9 at the half. The third quarter saw George catch the 32-yard touchdown to cut it to 17-15. Garcia answered with a 6-yard touchdown to Greg Clark to make it 24-15. The Titans added a fourth-quarter Thigpen touchdown to make it 24-22; their two-point conversion was stopped by Lance Schulters on a stand-up tackle in the end zone.
The turning point
The failed two-point conversion. With Tennessee down 24-22 with 47 seconds to play and the visitors going for the tying conversion, Schulters wrapped up Kevin Dyson at the goal line for a stand-up no-gain. The 49ers recovered the onside kick and kneeled out the clock.
By the numbers
Garcia 21-of-33 for 243 with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first NFL home start; 8 rushes for 8 yards plus the touchdown. Garner the dual-production afternoon: 12 carries for 69, 4 catches for 47 with a score. Rice 6 for 56 in his most consistent appearance of the year. Defensively the front produced three sacks of O'Donnell (Bryant Young 1, Junior Bryant 1, Chike Okeafor 1) and the secondary forced two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Personnel watch
