Christian McCaffrey, Stanford embarrass Iowa in Rose Bowl

He consistently electrified the crowd out of the backfield, in the passing game and on returns, including a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown.

As he accepted the award as the game’s Most Valuable Offensive Player, McCaffrey’s teammates showered him with chants of “Heisman!”

ORLANDO, Fla. – Two resurgent football teams were scheduled to meet at the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, but only one showed up.

McCaffrey’s effort opened up a lot of options for the Stanford offense, which took advantage with the deep ball.

“I think he was the best player in America before this game, so I think it’s just the icing on the cake”, Shaw said. – Stanford QB Kevin Hogan completed 12-of-21 passes for 223 yards and three scores with an interception. Hogan appeared to fake a fumble in the second quarter before popping up and throwing to an untouched Michael Rector for a 31-yard score, making it 35-0 at halftime. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance to get anything going”.

McCaffrey struggled to say if he played his best game of the season against Iowa, saying simply that the Stanford offense gelled at the right time.

In my 16 years of doing “this”, I have never written or shared ANYTHING that has been consumed as much as this video, and we were not even 24 hours out from the time I had uploaded it. “Certainly wish all of them the best as they move forward, and I know they’re going to all do well, and our team will move forward as well”.

Beathard was sacked seven times.

“Everyone saw that today”, said Iowa offensive lineman Austin Blythe.

“Apparently (our) games were too late”.

It was the first trip in 25 years for the Hawkeyes (12-2), who followed up their 12-0 regular season with two postseason losses. “It helped us feel confident and settle into the game”.

Christian McCaffrey dished out more than Iowa was ready to handle Friday.

Stanford’s success extended to defense, where it got to Beathard early and often.

Devon Cajuste admitted he grabbed a defender’s jersey and that it was a good call that wiped out McCaffrey’s 73-yard touchdown run. McCaffrey also added a 63-yard punt return. But to put it on that would really diminish the way they played.

“That was an audible”, Shaw said. “It worked to perfection”.

Jake Rudock threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns but it was the defense of the Wolverines (10-3) that earned most credit, holding the Gators (10-4) to 28 total yards in the second half. But linebackers Blake Martinez and Peter Kalambayi sacked Beathard for a 6-yard loss on fourth down with 2:01 remaining.

“That’s been in the works for six years”, Shaw said.

His ability to pick up huge chunks of yards before anyone seemed to know where he was on the field made it look like the Iowa defense was playing a real-life version of “Where’s Waldo?” Another is junior wide receiver Matt VandeBerg, who caught four passes for 64 yards and a 36-yard touchdown.

Beathard has been dealing with a groin injury since mid-October, but Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz shook off the suggestion that it played a significant role against the Cardinal.

The impressive result could leave Stanford ranked second or third in the nation in the final polls.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Stanford left tackle Kyle Murphy thinks the bowl performances of two Big Ten teams demonstrated what’s still wrong with the College Football Playoff. Stanford defensive back Quenton Meeks had a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. He was the first player ever to have 100 yards rushing and 100 yard receiving in a Rose Bowl. McCaffery finished with 2,019 to break Toby Gerhart’s record of 1,871 set in 2009….