Sorry Georgia, but 49ers Own Rams : Pro football: Young is sharp in 34-19 victory, San Francisco’s eighth in a row at Anaheim Stadium.

Quarterback Chris Miller’s signing was going to help the Rams bridge the Grand Canyon gap that has existed with the 49ers in recent years, but after Sunday’s 34-19 pratfall before 56,479 in Anaheim Stadium, the Rams remain the pits.

Miller is hurt, the 49ers (2-1) are as dominant as ever, and now the Rams (1-2) have to travel to Kansas City to play the team that beat San Francisco.

“This game was frustrating because I don’t fear San Francisco,” Ram safety Marquez Pope said. “They practice and watch the same amount of film as we do.”

The 49ers, however, have scored more points than the Rams in their last eight meetings. They are 13-2 against the Rams in Anaheim Stadium, and they were not even at their best in winning their eighth consecutive game here.

The 49ers were coming off emotional games with the Raiders and Chiefs, and they were playing without three starters along the offensive line and defensive end Richard Dent. Wide receiver Jerry Rice dropped a pass, running back Ricky Watters fumbled and the 49ers were tagged with 14 penalties for 177 yards.

“We still need to work on some things and execute better,” said Rice, after catching 11 passes for 147 yards, including a one-yard touchdown pass. “Fortunately, we had Steve Young out there and he made it all happen today.”

Young, who threw for an NFL-high 462 yards against the Rams a year ago, completed 31 of 39 passes for 355 yards. Young tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Taylor to open the scoring, ran for a one-yard score on the final play of the first half and then increased the 49ers’ lead to 34-13 in the fourth quarter with another one-yard scoring dive.

“I think the offensive line did a pretty good job overcoming some tough odds,” Young said. “When you play the Rams, it’s always going to be a good game no matter who is favored.”

The 49ers rolled up 454 yards in total offense while controlling the ball for almost 10 minutes longer than the Rams.

“You can’t win with the 49ers’ offense out on the field,” said Ram cornerback Todd Lyght, who was assigned coverage of Rice most of the day. “In order to beat the 49ers you have to have ball control. You can’t play defense against these guys all day, it just doesn’t work.”

The Ram offense, sharp on its first drive, failed to keep pace with the 49ers’ attack.

Miller, who ranked 28th in completion percentage among NFL starting quarterbacks, threw a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Troy Drayton--Drayton’s first catch of the season--to make the score, 7-7, in the first quarter.

The 49ers went ahead by 10-7 on Doug Brien’s 33-yard field goal, but the Rams matched that with Tony Zendejas’ 25-yard kick in the second quarter.

“We were right there,” Miller said, “and then I took this shot in my shoulder and I couldn’t feel the ball. My fingers went numb, and I tried to stay in there and grind it out.

“I hurt us more by staying in there, and that’s disheartening, but I was waiting for the feeling to come back in my fingers.”

While Miller tried to hang tough, the Rams were unable to hold on to the ball in the closing minutes of the first half.

“With three minutes to go I told Jerome (Bettis) to run the ball and the clock out,” Lyght said. “I knew if they got back in there, they would probably get at least a field goal.”

The Rams punted with 1:30 left in the half, and the 49ers refused to settle for a field goal. With no timeouts remaining, Young completed a 28-yard pass to Rice, who went down at the Rams’ one-yard line.

With the clock running, Young grounded the ball with four seconds left.

“We thought they might try something outside,” defensive tackle Sean Gilbert said. “That’s what we called.”

Young ran a quarterback sneak to give his team a 17-10 halftime advantage.

“They hit us right in the gut with that one,” safety Anthony Newman said. “But if we’re going to be a good team, we have to answer that in the second half.”

The Rams began the third quarter with excellent field position, but could not advance. They started at their 41, and punted. They took possession again at their 42, and punted again. Brien’s 47-yard field goal pushed the 49ers ahead, 20-10, and the game was getting away from the Rams.

“I asked Chris early in the third quarter if something was wrong with his shoulder,” Ram Coach Chuck Knox said. “He said no, so we left him in there.”

Miller tried a third series in the third quarter, and the Rams punted once more.

“I threw the ball and it took about a half hour to get there,” said Miller, who completed eight of 19 passes for 86 yards. “I had nothing on it and knew I had to come out.”

The Rams, however, didn’t get the ball back until after Young’s touchdown pass to Rice--Rice’s 128th touchdown, increasing his NFL record.

Chandler, who relieved Miller a week ago in Atlanta, guided the Rams to a 35-yard Zendejas field goal and a Bettis two-yard touchdown run, but the 49ers had already secured first place in the NFC West Division.

Bettis, who is supposed to be the perfect complement to a deep-throwing Miller, went over the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive game with 104 yards in 21 rushes. But both performances have come in defeat, and overall the Rams are 2-7 when Bettis rushes for more than 100 yards.

“We played some quality football,” Bettis said. “We just couldn’t sustain it.”

Flipper Anderson, who caught five passes for 154 yards last week, failed to catch a pass, while being covered at times by Deion Sanders.

“San Francisco is already a great team,” Anderson said. “I think Deion adds more to an Atlanta team than a San Francisco team. San Francisco is going to be great with Deion or without Deion.”

What about the Rams? Unfortunately, Sanders and his agent refused to return a call from the Rams earlier this month.