With London calling, 49ers roll

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, TENN.

The San Francisco 49ers know how to start a very long road trip in winning style.

Colin Kaepernick threw for 199 yards and ran for 68 and a touchdown, helping the 49ers start a two-game road swing by beating the Tennessee Titans 31-17 Sunday.

The 49ers (5-2) won their fourth straight before heading to London for a game with winless Jacksonville by jumping to a 17-0 halftime lead. Frank Gore also ran for a pair of 1-yard TDs as San Francisco cruised.

“This was a big game, and we were treating it like the biggest game of the season,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It was our next game. This was Game 7 for us, and we were treating it like Game 7 for us, and we were treating it like Game 7 of the World Series or Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Now the next game will be Game 8.”

Tramaine Brock also intercepted a pass, Justin Smith had two of the 49ers’ three sacks and Kassim Osgood recovered a muffed punt for a TD.

The Titans (3-4) lost their third straight even with Jake Locker starting after missing two games with a sprained right hip and knee. Locker threw for 326 yards, with two TD passes in a fourth-quarter spurt that came up short. Coach Mike Munchak defended the decision to start Locker, saying the quarterback was ready. Locker also ran three times for 29 yards.

“We felt comfortable he’d be able to protect himself,” Munchak said. “I think he showed he could do that.”

The Titans outgained the 49ers 368-349 in total offense only because of a frantic fourth quarter as they tried to rally. San Francisco still had a big edge in time of possession, holding the ball for more than 35 minutes, including the third quarter when the 49ers played keepaway for more than 11 minutes. Gore capped the opening drive of the third with his second TD for a 24-0 lead.

“I don’t know how you define midseason form, but we have strung together a few wins and we feel pretty good about what we’re doing right now,” Kaepernick said.

Tennessee tried to make it interesting late in a finish that featured plenty of pushing and shoving. Even Harbaugh got an arm caught up in a scrum on the San Francisco sideline after Kaepernick dived in trying to recover what he and the Titans thought was a fumble.

Locker tossed a short pass to Chris Johnson for a 66-yard TD, pulling Tennessee within 24-10 with 7:07 left, and the Titans forced the 49ers to punt.

But Tommie Campbell blocked Darryl Morris into Darius Reynaud, who muffed the punt. Osgood recovered in the end zone for the clinching TD.