SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -Shaun Hill walked into the San Francisco locker room Monday triumphantly sporting the shaky beginnings of a mustache, joining his offensive line in a pact to grow facial hair appropriate for the 49ers’ throwback uniforms.
It’s not the growth on Hill’s upper lip that has coach Mike Singletary excited, however.
Hill’s evolution as a capable NFL quarterback advanced yet another step in the fourth quarter of the 49ers’ stunning 17-16 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. After floundering through the first 53 minutes, Hill talked Singletary out of a benching before finishing with a 10-of-15, 127-yard performance that included two lengthy scoring drives and a spectacular winning touchdown pass to rookie Josh Morgan in the fourth quarter.
With an interim head coach and a fan base that’s restless for change, Hill knows he might not be the 49ers’ (6-9) quarterback for long, even though nearly every game in his 4-3 stint as their starter has suggested he could do the job in 2009.
e uncertainty of his future interfere with his enjoyment of the present. The laid-back veteran from Kansas even came up an appropriate simile for his travails in St. Louis.
“I started thinking about it, and it’s a lot like bass fishing,” Hill said, itching the burgeoning toothbrush under his nose. “You go out there and you think it’s going to be a perfect day, and you’re throwing what you think is right. You know this is supposed to be catching them, but this isn’t catching them. You’re out there for three or four hours, and you haven’t caught a fish, and then all of a sudden, the big one hits.”
In a 161-second span, Hill threw a short TD pass to Isaac Bruce – the 1,000th catch of his career – and an improbable 48-yard scoring heave to Morgan, who made a daredevil catch with 1:22 left.
“I’d say the first one was probably a nice 4-pound bass,” Hill said, comparing his TD throws. “The last one was a whopper. The last one was one you put on your wall – 8-pound in Missouri, 11 out here.”
Singletary had an eye-poppingly animated discussion with Hill on the sideline in the third quarter, even benching Hill for about 20 seconds before the quarterback won the argument. The interim coach saw something in Hill’s eyes that he recognized from his own playing days.
id in the fourth quarter, coming back and showing the leadership, keeping the guys focused and being able to create those plays, that’s the guy that I always believe he is.”
After Hill and his receivers stole a victory, the quarterback briefly got to celebrate it with more than 40 friends and family members in attendance from Kansas and Missouri. He wouldn’t blame the contingent for his mostly terrible play, but Hill had never before felt the weight of such expectations during his first 6 1/2 NFL seasons spent mostly as a backup.
“I’d never got to play near my hometown at all, in college or the NFL,” said Hill, who was born and raised in Parsons, Kan., and now lives in Missouri. “That was the first time I was playing in front of a lot of my friends and my family. I’ve had people come to one or two games, but this was the first time that I was really that amped up for it.”
Hill’s day might have been considerably less bright without a spectacular play by Morgan, the rookie who missed the 49ers’ previous five games after tearing a muscle in his groin on a late hit during San Francisco’s loss at Arizona on Nov. 10.
ther week.
But Morgan had just one catch for 7 yards against the Rams before he streaked downfield and leaped past three defenders and teammate Jason Hill for a graceful grab. Shaun Hill insisted he was throwing to Morgan on the play, and Morgan confirmed it Monday, saying Jason Hill accidentally overran his route by several yards.
“They always say you’re only as good as your last game, so I definitely wanted to show the coaches how good I am,” said Morgan, whose 15.8 yards-per-catch average and three TD receptions are both second on the Niners’ roster. “It’s like an alley-oop in basketball. You go up, and you slam it down.”
Notes: RB Frank Gore plans to return to practice this week with hopes on playing in Sunday’s season finale. Gore is acutely aware he’s just 22 yards shy of becoming the first running back in 49ers history with three straight 1,000-yard seasons. … The 49ers won’t practice on Christmas, instead pushing back their normal preparation schedule one day.
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