Christian McCaffrey breaks Barry Sanders’ NCAA record

Stanford quickly marched down the field and scored again, thanks in large part to a 67 yard pass from QB Kevin Hogan to McCaffrey, making the score 20-16.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – Run, pass and catch. The numbers are gaudy. The Trojans got within five early in the fourth quarter, but two McCaffrey touchdowns sealed the contest. But Saunders did it in 11 games while McCaffrey took the whole season, he finished the game with 3,496 all-purpose yards. It really is,”McCaffrey told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game. To be honest, I’m excited about playing in the Rose Bowl”. I couldn’t do it without my teammates.

“I would love to go”, he said. McCaffrey ran for 93 yards in the first period. Stanford gave themselves enough breathing room with a 34-22 lead.

Helton remained the Trojans’ playcaller after being named head coach this year but said he will not call plays next season. But while the entire Cardinal team celebrated under the rain of gold confetti, the night belonged to Christian McCaffrey.

The Trojans did try to make it interesting in the third quarter. Cody Kessler finally connected with a receiver, he threw a 1-yard touchdown to Jaleel Pinner. Taylor played at Stanford from 2009-12, when he set the school record for rushing attempts, rushing yards, total touchdowns and 100-yard games.

But then Stanford took control.

Christian McCaffrey had 207 yards rushing, a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown in the Pac 12 Championship Saturday night.

The Trojans overcame a Stanford defensive touchdown by tackle Solomon Thomas on the old sack-and-run play to stay within one score into the fourth quarter, and then they got Stanford into another third-down situation with a little over 12 minutes to go.

St. Thomas (13-0) was paced by Nick Waldvogel, who had eight catches for 68 yards, while John Gould completed 16 of 28 passes for 196 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The 34-22 lead proved to be a barrier the Trojans could not climb.

Heisman Trophy favorite Derrick Henry reiterated his case with another bruising effort, gaining 189 yards in 44 carries. Until USC can catch up to OR or Stanford, a ton of work remains.

For more Stanford news, visit CardinalSportsReport.com.

USC head coach Clay Helton has fired defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, as well as three other assistant coaches. So I have no problems with where we are now.

While McCaffrey stole the show, Hogan broke records of his own.

McCaffrey ran, passed and also threw for a touchdown.

As long as the FBS National Championship playoffs are capped at 4 teams, at least one Power-5 conference is going to be frozen out. But Alabama took care of Florida, Clemson staved off North Carolina and Michigan State beat Iowa in a de facto quarterfinal game. As a result, the Seminoles are headed to the Peach Bowl, where they will meet Houston, champions of the American Conference, after their 24-13 win over Temple.

Stanford, in lieu of a possible semifinal berth, won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Rose Bowl. How hard is that?

“We just didn’t execute and made him look great”, defensive lineman Antwaun Woods said. “We’re not in charge of that”. They would get three points before the end of the half, and would go into the tunnels at Levi’s Stadium down 13-3. And it would be … if there was an 8-team playoff. “You know JuJu, we know he’s not one hundred percent”.