Stanford dominates Iowa 45-16 in Rose Bowl

As he walked up the tunnel to the locker room, Stanford offensive lineman Joshua Garnett yelled “We want ‘Bama” to the Stanford fans after his team dismantled Iowa in Friday’s Rose Bowl.

Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey hugs head coach David Shaw celebrates after Stanford defeated Iowa 45-16 during the 102nd Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California on Friday, January 1, 2016. The excitement wore off in a hurry.

McCaffrey scored on a 63-punt return in the second quarter, leaving would-be tacklers grasping at air, and would have scored a rushing touchdown as well, if not for a Stanford holding penalty that wiped an 81-yard score off the board. The Hawkeyes won 12 games in a single season for the first time, going undefeated during the regular season before a last-minute loss in the conference title game and Friday’s bowl-game pounding.

“Definitely disappointing, but on days like this, you’ve got to focus on the season we had”, O’Rourke said.

All in all, the Hawkeyes – which played strong defense throughout the season – allowed 429 total yards to the Cardinal, 206 rushing and 223 passing.

“You talk to great players and (they) always play with a chip on their shoulder whether they have a reason to or not, ” McCaffrey said.

The Stanford sophomore earned offensive most valuable player honors in the Rose Bowl after rushing for 172 yards, catching four passes for 105 yards and totaling 101 yard on a pair of returns against the Hawkeyes in the Cardinal’s 45-16 win.

Stanford scored 35 unanswered points in the first half (the most in Rose Bowl history).

Garnett was upset with some pre-game comments made by Iowa cornerback Desmond King. “… We had a choice, we could have folded after that first game, or come together”. And he did it for a Stanford team that played one of the toughest schedules in the country while playing only FBS opponents.

“Getting Christian out in space, using Michael Rector and Devon Cajuste down the field, Austin Hooper in option routes inside, we knew we were going to have a chance to get guys in space”, Shaw said, calling his 12-2 team’s performance the culmination of its growth throughout a season which began with a 10-point loss at Northwestern. Reggie Bush and C.J. Spiller are the two others.

The Cardinal deserved to be in the playoffs, and we, as college football fans deserve to know, beyond certainty, who the best team in college football is. Beathard threw his only two TD passes in the fourth quarter, when the Hawkeyes trailed by 29 points. Matt VandeBerg and Akrum Wadley caught Beathard’s late scoring passes. Stanford had three touchdown passes of 30 yards or more and 206 yards on the ground on 34 carries. We showed them what Stanford football is all about. The most noteworthy moment proved to be Bob Jeter’s 81-yard run in the third quarter to, truly, put the game out of reach. He’ll get his shot at a Heisman recount next season.

Shaw said he expects the format will change in the future after the original 12-year agreement expires, to either an eight-team bracket or a six-team playoff with byes. “We’ll learn from it. We’ll move on”.

Despite seven sacks, Beathard completed 21 of 33 passes for 239 yards.