McCaffrey’s 2 TDs lead No. 8 Stanford past Kansas St. 26-13

McCaffrey, who touched the ball on the opening kickoff and the game’s first five plays from scrimmage, finally broke through 10 minutes into the first quarter. The do-it-all running back gave Stanford a 17-0 lead on the Wildcats with a 35-yard run in the second quarter of Friday night’s game at Stanford Stadium.

Ertz was tackled in the end zone by Jordan Watkins for a safety with 4:11 left in the fourth quarter to put the Cardinal ahead 19-6.

McCaffrey is fresh off a season in which he smashed one of the sport’s hallowed records – Barry Sanders’ single-season all-purpose yardage total – and finished second in the Heisman race.

But Stanford’s offense stalled in the second half before McCaffrey iced the game with a late 41-yard TD run.

While tonight’s group of games is not world beating, Stanford and Kansas state definitely will prove to be entertaining, if for no other reason than a big Christian McCaffrey performance.

Now that Barnett is back from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for almost the entire 2015 season, the Wildcats have the most experienced defense in the Big 12 with a combined 135 career starts.

The Wildcats’ inexperienced offensive line, which features two freshmen, struggled.

Johnny Caspers, OG, Stanford: Stanford is all about getting big up front and punching defenses in the mouth with their running game.

That’s hardly a surprise given that Burns had thrown one career pass prior to Friday.

But the kick didn’t go 10 yards. He was replaced by Joe Hubener, who threw an interception on the first play after Ertz’s departure. Of the 16 recipients this century, only two played for teams that had lost more than two games when the ballots were due at the end of the regular season.

Kenneth Brinson sealed the victory with an interception with 3:11 remaining, sending numerous 34,005 fans in attendance to the parking lot early.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse christened the Dino Babers era of racetrack football by sprinting away from Colgate 33-7 in the season-opener for both teams. Amba Etta-Tawo grabbed 12 balls for 210 yards.

No. 12 Michigan State 28, Furman 13: In East Lansing, Michigan, Tyler O’Connor threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns, and Michigan State held off upset-minded Furman.

The defense came up with two interceptions (courtesy of fifth-year senior Dallas Lloyd and sophomore Quenton Meeks), a clutch fourth-quarter safety and a number of big red zone stops.

Add to that accomplished group the candidates who will undoubtedly emerge from blue bloods like Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame, and McCaffrey’s challenge becomes more daunting. Paul Fricano had a 35-yard field goal.

Ertz suffered a season-ending knee injury in last season’s opener. Phillip Lindsay punched it in from there. The defense did its part, forcing four turnovers and bottling up the Rams (0-1) all evening. The Wildcats junior quarterback won the starting job a year ago, but missed the entire season after tearing his ACL on the opening play of the 2015 season. He also ran for 20 yards on 13 attempts. At home, the Cardinal have won eight straight season openers by an average of nearly four touchdowns, but Kansas State should be a solid opponent. Rector had 559 yards and seven touchdowns last season. That kick completed a 32-yard drive on the Cardinal’s first possession of the game. “We just played in the national championship game and I could’ve swayed him, maybe, if we could have got him on an official (visit)”.