Carlos Hyde, defense lead 49ers past Vikings, 20-3

SAN FRANCISCO Just when it looked like another road block would ruin a San Francisco 49ers drive, Carlos Hyde spun his 235-pound body and reversed course for their first touchdown of the season.

Hyde was only just beginning, and so is a 49ers season that doesn’t look quite so dire after their 20-3 opening win over the Minnesota Vikings at a soldout Levi’s Stadium.

Complementing Hyde’s first 100-yard rushing game of his career, as well as his two touchdown runs, was a sturdy and aggressive effort by the 49ers revamped defense, which included NaVorro Bowman’s return from a January 2014 knee injury.

Underdogs in front of a sold-out home crowd, the 49ers started sloppily in their alternate black uniforms and didn’t find an encouraging grove until Hyde led them to it. He finished with 26 carries for 168 yards, assuring a victory in coach Jim Tomsula’s first game since succeeding Jim Harbaugh.

Could Hyde’s spin move symbolize the turnaround his franchise is hoping for after a turbulent offseason and last year’s 8-8 record?

Hyde, making his first career start, began his scoring run toward a mass of bodies clogging the right side of the line. Then Hyde opted to mimick a move Braxton Miller pulled off Saturday for Hyde’s alma mater, Ohio State. By spinning away from traffic, Hyde found a wide-open path to the left side of the end zone, with an escort by quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Of Hyde’s 12 carries for 83 yards in the first half, half of those carries (for 38 yards) came on that 93-yard touchdown drive.

Hyde’s second touchdown run stayed on course to the right side, a 17-yard dash that pushed the 49ers lead to 17-3. A second-round draft pick last year, Hyde had four touchdown runs as a rookie understudy to Frank Gore, who left in free agency in March for the Indianapolis Colts.

Hyde’s backup, Reggie Bush, exited Monday’s opener in the first quarter with a calf injury. Thus, when Hyde needed relief, the 49ers had to turn to Australian rookie Jarryd Hayne (three carries, 13 yards; 7-yard reception).

Hayne, Hyde’s training camp roommate, had a disastrous first touch to his NFL career, muffing a punt return at midfield in the first quarter as the ball fell through his hands and off his left knee.

That was only one of a few special-teams gaffes by the 49ers. First came a blocked field goal to spoil the 49ers’ 70-yard opening drive. After Hayne’s fumble, Bruce Ellington replaced Hayne in that punt-return role in the second quarter, and Keith Reaser’s block-in-the-back penalty nullified a would-be, 85-yard touchdown return by Ellington.

Under new defensive coordinator Eric Mangini, the 49ers pestered quarterback Teddy Bridgwater all night and did a quality job containing Adrian Peterson, who was playing his first game since last year’s opener and had only 10 carries for 31 yards.

Bridgewater got sacked five times, each one by a different defender: Bowman, Antoine Bethea, Jaquiski Tartt, Tank Carradine and Aaron Lynch. Tremaine Brock chipped in with a fourth-quarter interception.

The 49ers lead grew to 10-0 when Phil Dawson’s 30-yard field goal capped off a 73-yard drive. But the Vikings got those three points back on a Blair Walsh field goal (37 yards) to make it 10-3 with 14:43 remaining.

Dawson made both of his point-after kicks (from the NFL’s new distance of 33 yards) and tacked on a 25-yard field goal with 6:08 remaining to cap the 49ers’ scoring.

Kaepernick finished 17 of 26 for 165 yards, with no touchdown passes or interceptions and only one sack. He scrambled seven times for 41 yards, including one where he got hit hard on the sideline by Vikings Harrison Smith in the first quarter.

The 49ers leading receivers were Anquan Boldin (four catches, 36 yards), Vernon Davis (three catches, 47 yards) and Garrett Celek (three catches, 40 yards). Torrey Smith, the 49ers high-priced acquisition in free agency, had only an 11-yard catch, on the 49ers’ third snap.

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