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Mark Ingram had a spinning, tackle-breaking touchdown run in his NFL debut, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the San Francisco 49ers 24-3 in the preseason opener for both teams on Friday night.

Ingram's 14-yard scoring run highlighted a performance in which the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner out of Alabama carried six times for 23 yards.
Saints undrafted rookie Joseph Morgan, a little known prospect out of Walsh University, added a spectacular 78-yard punt return for a score.
David Akers hit a 59-yard field goal for San Francisco, a kick set up by rookie quarterback Colin Kaepernick's 28-yard scramble late in the first half.
Starters played less than a quarter, and defense dominated during that scoreless stint.
The game also marked the NFL head coaching debut of former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback who will want to see better performances out of starter Alex Smith and his offensive line.
The Niners did not get a first down on their first four series, three of which were thwarted by hits on Smith.
Will Smith had a sack and had another hit that caused an errant pass. Roman Harper had a sack and strip on a safety blitz, but the Niners recovered.
The Saints' normally prolific first-team offense failed to produce a first down on its first three series. The second possession ended when Drew Brees was nearly intercepted by safety Donte Whitner. The third stalled when a long pass over the middle went through receiver Robert Meachem's hands.
Brees' finished 1 of 4 for 6 yards before Chase Daniel came on to get New Orleans' first first down on a 19-yard scramble, which had 15 yards added for a late hit. That set up Garrett Hartley's 47-yard field goal for the first points of the game.
Smith finished 2 of 7 for only 10 yards.
Kaepernick played most of the game for the 49ers, and his scrambling ability was evident as he wound up being the 49ers leading rusher with 47 yards. He was 9 of 19 for 117 yards passing but also was intercepted twice, first by cornerback Terrail Lambert and later by rookie linebacker Nate Bussey.
Daniel was 13 of 21 for 129 yards and led all three Saints scoring drives before being relieved by Sean Canfield in the final minutes. Joique Bell led New Orleans on the ground with 52 yards on nine carries.
Ingram's touchdown gave the Saints a 17-0 lead late in the first half. Saints reserve running back Chris Taylor added a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

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strato

Taylor looked the best..along with Bell...only time will tell

FireVenturi

Wasn't impressed with Ingram. However, it's just pre season.

QBREES9

Man it's his first game. It's along preseason.

FireVenturi

Yea, I stated it's just preseason. From this game I wasn't impressed. 3.8 ypc with 14 on one carry. I also thought our O line struggled. Our D kicked @ss though....

QBREES9

I understand. How many carries did he have.

Danno

He had 6 carries, and was hit behind the line on about 3 of them.

I wasn't impressed with our starting O-line at all. Maybe Kreutz is still gelling.

papz

Defense definitely was more ready than the offense. Being the first preseason game, it's typical. We'll hit our stride.

Saints' Ingram gives glimpse of future | wwltv.com New Orleans

strato

But Bell and Taylor ran fine...

Danno

Ingram ran fine when when the 49er 2nd string came in and our 2nds blocked well.



The TD was awesome balance and burst. Exactly what we want to see from him.

Taylor was running against 3rds and 4ths. Apples and oranges.

I didn't even recognize most of the Saints on the field.