After giving up a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, the San Francisco 49ers starting defense responded with two goal-line stands against the Houston Texans.

The Texans had 1st-and-goal from the 49ers 1-yard line with 4:10 remaining in the opening quarter. San Francisco stopped Houston running backs Jay Prosch and Alfred Blue on first and second down respectively. A pass interference on third down gave Houston a fresh set of downs, again from the 1-yard line. Houston rookie ball-carrier Kenny Hilliard was stopped twice at the goal line, running back Joseph Grimes was stopped once and Blue was stuffed again on fourth down.

To recap, the Texans ran the ball six times from the 1-yard line and were kept out of the end zone.

Mike Purcell and Eric Reid were among the standouts on the series. Purcell's top moment came on a second down play, bursting through the Texans offensive line and dropping Blue for a three-yard loss.

"Obviously that's a great opportunity there for the guys, and the boys rose up to the occasion," said head coach Jim Tomsula during a halftime interview. "Opportunities like that are big."

As for the offense, Colin Kaepernick the 49ers first-team unit played just one series on Saturday night in the team's preseason opener against the Houston Texans.

The unit's initial drive resulted in one first down. Kaepernick connected on his first pass of the game, a 14-yard completion over the middle to Anquan Boldin. On the subsequent first-down play, the 49ers quarterback just missed Torrey Smith streaking downfield. Smith had a step on the corner trying to keep up with the speedy receiver, but the ball was just out of reach. Pierre Garçon had just one official carry for three yards, but he did have a nice eight-yard run called back due to a hold. 

Kaepernick finished the game 1-for-3 passing for 14 yards.

Notable starters who were held out against the Texans inluded linebacker NaVorro Bowman and tight end Vernon Davis.