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Gore rushes for career-high 159 yards, 49ers win

Nov 12, 2006 - 9:25 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Frank Gore and Joe Nedney ended the road frustration for the San Francisco 49ers. It didn't hurt that the Detroit Lions were in the spirit of giving.

Gore rushed for 148 of his career-high 159 yards in the first half and Joe Nedney kicked four field goals to lead the 49ers to a 19-13 victory over the Lions.

San Francisco (4-5) had been outscored, 82-10, in its previous two road games. But this time, the Lions (2-7) made things easy for the Niners by committing four turnovers.

The last one came when Niners linebacker Keith Lewis intercepted a pass over the middle by Jon Kitna at the San Francisco 2 with 2:31 left. Lewis returned the interception 24 yards and the Niners consumed the rest of the clock.

"The importance of going on the road and gaining a victory was important for a lot of reasons," Niners coach Mike Nolan said. "It's never easy to win on the road. Detroit won two of its last three games and was feeling very confident coming into this game and it's a noisy place to play. I thought our focus was very good."

Gore, a second-year player from Miami, scored on a 61-yard run just 3:37 into the game to give the Niners a lead they never relinquished.

Gore gained 148 yards on just 18 carries in the first half. He carried the ball just four times in the second half before leaving in the third quarter with a mild concussion.

"Frank was huge for us," said San Francisco's Alex Smith, who completed 14-of-20 passes for 136 yards. "To get a road win, this is big for our confidence."

Nedney converted field goals of 28, 23, 23 and 47 yards.

The Niners entered with the most points allowed, nearly 30 a game. But they held the Lions to just a touchdown and two field goals after giving up only a field goal last week in a 9-3 win over Minnesota.

"I give the entire defense the game ball," Nolan said. "Last week they held Minnesota to three points and today they did an outstanding job against a very explosive, potent offense."

Kitna threw for 202 yards, but committed two of the turnovers with an interception and fumble. Running back Kevin Jones and wide receiver Roy Williams also lost fumbles.

"I'm not a sugar-coater," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. "I'm going to take the film and put it right in their faces. I'm not going to put it all on them, we didn't teach them well enough, but I'm going to tell them the truth."

Kitna hit tight end Dan Campbell with an eight-yard touchdown pass and Jason Hanson made a pair of field goals for the Lions.

"First of all, it's only positive if you win, which we didn't do and that's what's frustrating," Campbell said.

Nedney's 28-yard field goal with 1:36 left in the first quarter came after Lewis forced a fumble by Jones and defensive tackle Marques Douglas recovered for the Niners at the Detroit 32.

Nedney kicked a 23-yard field goal with 9:46 remaining in the second quarter to increase the lead to 13-0.