INDIANAPOLIS – What Frank Gore did on Sunday is something Andrew Luck has never had as an NFL quarterback.
Gore's slicing running nature through the Titans defense earned him 6.1 yards per carry on Sunday (14 rushes for 86 yards).
In Luck's 51 career starts, the Colts quarterback has never had a running back rack up that type of per carry average.
"Six-yards per carry? Now, that's great," Luck says looking back on the day from Gore.
"You can do a lot of good things with that as an offense. That's a great job by the o-line as well, making some big push there, creating some big holes, especially at the end of game."
Ever since Gore has arrived to Indianapolis back in the spring, his running style has been lauded.
Colts players have now witnessed Gore in game action and when they watch the film they marvel at how the diminutive running back finds his running lanes.
"(Gore) just has a natural ability to set up blocks," Matt Hasselbeck says. "I think it's one of the reasons he's been so successful in this league for such a long time.
"The lineman can't see him so they can stay on their path and he's setting up their blocks for him. He shows in, goes out. He shows out, he goes in. More than that, he's just patient. He does this little jump/skip type thing to the linebackers reading him. He kind of slows it down to a point, where that guy has to make a decision and then Frank gets north and south."
The direction was largely north on Sunday in Nashville.
Gore, who received a game ball he promptly handed to his offensive line on Sunday, gashed the Titans defense for seven first-downs on 14 of his caries. That 50 percent first-down rate is the highest a Colts player has had since Joseph Addai in 2007.
When tight end Coby Fleener dials up the run-game film, he's in awe at the vision of Gore.
"It's easy to see it on film and say, 'Oh, yeah, I would have made that cut.' But Frank is a guy that actually in the moment can do that and see it," Fleener says.
"He's one of the more talented runners I've ever seen, especially mentally, the understanding of how guys are playing the play and where they are going to play."
Performances like Sunday from Gore indicate it's only a matter of time before he cracks the 100-yard mark in a game.
The last time the Colts had a rusher eclipse that plateau was Week 15 of the 2012 season.
When Hasselbeck got wind of Gore's presence in Indianapolis during the offseason, the veteran quarterback's phone was filled with messages any player likes to hear.
"The guys (Gore) played with in San Fran, every guy that I talked to this offseason said, 'I love Frank Gore.' He's just a great teammate," Hasselbeck says.
"You can't say enough good things about him."
