No. 7 Stanford beats No

“We have to limit the explosive plays”, Shaw said. The last time Troy played in the “Grandaddy of Them All” was back in 2009 under Pete Caroll, an era that seems like forever ago to the USC faithful. They certainly have plenty of momentum after upsetting Notre Dame last week win a winning field goal and they will need that to be the Trojans.

McCaffrey ran for 207 yards and a score, threw a touchdown pass, caught another and broke Barry Sanders’ single-season all-purpose yards record to lead No. 7 Stanford to the Pac-12 championship with a 41-22 win over No. 24 Southern California on Saturday.

“The guy I had posted on my wall growing up”, McCaffrey said. The third quarter ended with Stanford ahead, 27-16. Stanford had 29 red-zone snaps in the first half and scored only 13 points, with USC’s Porter Gustin sacking Hogan on a fourth-and-goal rollout.

Following a Stanford punt, USC went right back to business, moving the ball 75 yards in seven plays to set up a 27-yard touchdown run by Ronald Jones II with 5:28 remaining in the quarter, giving them a 16-13 edge and instituting fear in the hearts of the “Fear the Tree” rally cryers.

Stanford is a really good team and I have much respect for them, however, Kevin Hogan looked like the second-coming of Andrew Luck out there on a bummed ankle. “His ability to break tackles is what stood out today”. “I anticipate he’ll be one of those guys in NY (for the Heisman presentation)”.

Then, Stanford’s Blake Martinez sacked Cody Kessler, causing Kessler to fumble the ball. But we’ll always celebrate any chance to show up the NCAA when we can, so good work, Pac-12.

“We were too fired up in a bad way”, USC tailback Justin Davis said. On first down, a high snap to McCaffrey in the wildcat resulted in a short game and took us to the end of the quarter, with the score 3-0, Stanford. He also threw an 11-yard scoring pass to quarterback Kevin Hogan, who joined McCaffrey as the only FBS players this season to catch a touchdown, run for a touchdown and throw for a touchdown in the same game. Devon Cajuste had 125 yards and one touchdown in five catches while Michael Rector added 51 yards and one touchdown.

USC had reduced a 13-3 halftime deficit to 13-9 on Kessler’s 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Jahleel Pinner on the Trojans’ first possession of the third quarter.

McCaffrey’s 461 all-purpose yard performance came after Alabama’s Derrick Henry rushed for 189 yards and 1 touchdown on 44 carries. USC came alive in the second half after being sparked by some big gains on the ground, but the Trojans ultimately couldn’t keep their offense on the field long enough to keep McCaffrey and Co. off of it.

Stanford receiving meantime was dominated by Cajuste. Kessler led a 15-play drive in the closing minutes of the half to lead to a 40-yard field goal by Alex Wood that cut Stanford’s lead to 13-3.

USC took the lead in the third quarter, but could not hang on. It doesn’t make sense. And finally, in 2013, unranked USC defeated No. 5 Stanford 20-17, a week after the Cardinal defeated OR and was on track for the top of the polls. Chad Helton, coaching his first game since having the interim tag removed by USC, called McCaffrey “as special a player as we’ve played all season”, and Trojans linebacker Su’a Cravens said McCaffrey should win the Heisman. The Trojans have outrushed opponents by 139 yards per game since Helton became coach….