DAZZLING DEBUT FOR MULLENS
Quarterback leads 49ers’ romp over Raiders in first game
SANTA CLARA » Mark Mullens flew in from Alabama and gave his youngest son, Nick, a few “dad jokes” before his NFL debut Thursday night. What transpired over the next few hours surely fooled more than the visiting Raiders in a 34-3 rout.
Nick Mullens threw three touchdown passes, starting with two on his first two series, as he looked nothing like a third-string desperado filling in as the 49ers starting quarterback for an injured C. J. Beathard, who went 0-5 in place of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo.
Thus, the 49ers (2-7) found their way out of a six-game losing streak. The Raiders (1-7) dropped their fourth straight.
Mullens made a magnificent first impression, completing 16of-22 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, no sacks and a 151.9 passer rating. Where this 23-year-old goes from
here, time will tell. One game does not make a Hall of Fame career (see: Tim Rattay, 3 TD-debut, 2003). But it does bolster Mullens’ prospects to remain on the roster as Garoppolo’s top backup next season in the 49ers’ hopeful return to contention.
“It ’ s everything I dreamed of,” Mullens said, choking up when Fox-TV’s Erin Andrews asked about his debut. “It’s only one game, though.
“I’ve been in the organization for two years, just trying to learn as much as I could, prepare like I’m the starter every week. This week was my week. Just take advantage of opportunities when they come. And they came.”
Undrafted last year out of Southern Miss, Mullens spent last season on the practice squad, fromwhich he got elevated to back up Beathard once Garoppolo sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 3.
Once Beathard injured his right wrist and thumb in Sunday’s 18-15 loss at Arizona, Mullens’ moment was about to dawn, so he gave a heads up to his family in Alabama.
“He kind of let me know it was a possibility,” said Mark Mullens, who flew in Wednesday night with his oldest son, Frank, from Birmingham, Alabama (via only one connecting flight through Las Vegas).
The Mullens family, including Nick’s wife, Haleigh, had been to Levi’s Stadium to witness his exhibition- season flair that captured 49ers fans’ imagination. After Mullens’ initial warmups Thursday night, he greeted his family on the sideline ropes, looking both calm and excited about what was to unfold.
The Raiders made for an inviting defense. Mullens’ first two drives ended with third- down touchdown strikes to Pierre Garçon (24 yards) and Kendrick Bourne (4 yards) for a 14-3 lead. The second half also opened with a touchdown drive, as George Kittle first made a one-handed, 71yard catch-and-run before producing a 5-yard touchdown reception.
Mullens celebrated that third touchdown with a pirouette, and then he got hoisted into air by left tackle Joe Staley, the 49ers’ longest-tenured member who looked haggard as the losses mounted this season. Earlier, Staley and other offensive linemen rushed to be the first to congratulate Mullens after his first touchdown pass, and Garçon then handed his QB the ball as a memento.
The 49ers didn’t publicly declare Mullens their starter until only a few hours before kickoff. Shanahan declined to name the starter for the next game — Nov. 12, a Monday nighter against the New York Giants — but he acknowledged that Mullens would be considered.
Key impressions
AIRING IT OUT » Mullens was the first 49ers quarterback to make his starting debut in prime time since Colin Kaepernick in 2012. And just like that Kaepernick debut, the 49ers didn’t opt for a conservative game plan. Kaepernick aired it out at Candlestick, throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Bears for a 133.1 passer rating.
So, in accordance with coach Kyle Shanahan’s aggressive nature, Mullens got to throw it around the home yard from the jump. He completed an 11-yard pass to Marquise Goodwin on the 49ers’ first snap, launching a 75-yard drive in which he completed his other two passes, a 6-yarder to Kyle Juszczyk and the scoring strike to Garcon on a tremendous, play-action fake.
It was Garcon’s first touchdown since Dec. 11, 2016, with Washington and his first as a 49er in 109 targets and 62 completions. Mullens completed the first six passes of his career and was 7 of 8 for 91 yards in the first quarter. Every pass seemed to pack so much promise. There was a dangerous, thirddown conversion outside the numbers to Garcon. Then a 53-yard beauty to Richie James. A sidearm sling to Kittle went for 71 yards and set up touchdown No. 3.
The 49ers could have taken the easy route, kept Mullens in check and instead let their running backs feast on the league’s worst run defense. Why do that when you can take Mullens’ arm on a funfilled test drive? PASS RUSHRE BORN » Complementing Mullens and the offense was the 49ers defense’s best pass-rush production of the season. Derek Carr got sacked six times, and A. J. McCarron once. Cassius Marsh tallied a team-high 2 ½ sacks, and he had company in the Raiders’ backfield. Dekoda Watson got activated off injured reserve and made an immediate impact with 1 ½ sacks. DeForest Buckner raised his team-leading total to 5 ½ sacks this season. Even long-lost Solomon Thomas got into the act with a sack. MOSTERT’S NIGHT » Not long after Raheem Mostert raced 52 yards for his first career touchdown, he sustained a right-forearm injury that could end his season. He got tripped up in the backfield on a third-quarter run and players from both teams immediately summoned medical staff.
It was a sad ending for what had been yet another encouraging game by Mostert, who was known strictly for his specialteams prowess until last month’s emergence as a rushing option behind Matt Breida. Mostert totaled seven carries for 86 yards, a yard shy of his career-best total Oct. 15 at Green Bay.
They 49ers may have to call up Jeff Wilson or Matt Dayes from the practice squad to bolster the backfield.