Christian McCaffrey has 368 yards in breaking all-purpose mark

The rest didn’t come quite as easily as Heisman runner-up running back and game MVP Christian McCaffrey’s 75-yard touchdown catch from Kevin Hogan on the game’s first play from scrimmage, but it sure looked that way. McCaffrey continued to prove the importance of an all-purpose running back to an offensive attack an set a Rose Bowl record with 358 all-purpose yards and becoming the first player in the game to rush for more than 100 yards and gain more than 100 receiving.

McCaffrey finished with 368 all-purpose yards, besting the old mark by Wisconsin receiver Jared Abbrederis, who racked up 346 yards against OR in the 2012 Rose Bowl.

The game would remain a blowout, too, with Stanford winning, 45-16.

Christian McCaffrey added a punt return for a touchdown to his expanding resume, not that he needed to show anything more than he has during a remarkable, record-setting season. He averaged 9.6 yards for each carry with an average of 26.3 yards for four catches. The defense and special teams will take a battering for this game, which is completely understandable – you could make a Godfather-length supercut of all the missed tackles and bad angles Iowa defenders took in this game.

The Cardinal defense didn’t allow a touchdown until the game was out of reach and limited the Hawkeyes to 287 yards.

“Just to put it on one injury or guys being a little bit hobbled, Stanford just outplayed us every turn”, Ferentz said.

NOTES: About 55,000 Iowa fans attended the Hawkeyes’ first Rose Bowl appearance since 1991….

Stanford QB Kevin Hogan and former QB Andrew Luck shared the school’s record for career offense with 10,387 yards as the game began. Cornerback Quenton Meeks stepped in front of VandeBerg for an interception that he returned 66 yards for a touchdown with 4:07 left in the first quarter. Undoubtedly, this loss will send Kirk Ferentz and his staff back to the drawing board ahead of the coach’s 18th year and provide fodder for critics of the Big Ten.

Iowa had never trailed by more than seven points at any point in its magical season, which included the first 12-0 start in school history before a narrow loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game.

Beathard did finish with 239 yards and two touchdowns through the air, but his pick-six in the first quarter sucked the life out of Iowa.

Comedian and Iowa native Tom Arnold, croaking hoarsely during an in-game interview, vowed the Hawkeyes would rally in the second half.

The Cardinal led 35-0 at halftime and 38-3 after three quarters. “He’s great in the open field and really a strong runner for his size”.

Jake Rudock shrugged off a shoulder injury and threw for three touchdowns to lead the Wolverines to victory in the Citrus Bowl.