No. 7 Stanford whips No. 20 USC 41-22

Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey (5) runs against Southern California during the first half of a Pac-12 Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Santa Clara, Calif.

New USC coach Clay Helton began putting his stamp on the Trojans program Sunday, firing four assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Justin WIlcox, according to multiple reports.

“It takes time”, USC linebacker Su’a Cravens said.

“Defensively, we knew we had to get a game-breaking play at some point”, Shaw said. Wins by Clemson and Alabama all but ensured that the Cardinal will not be a part of the four-team playoff.

Stanford and USC remained tight throughout the first three quarters of the Pac-12 Championship, but Thomas’s 34-yard fumble recovering touchdown at the end of the third shifted all the momentum squarely with the Cardinal.

USC took a 16-13 lead on Jahleel Pinner’s one-yard touchdown catch from Cody Kessler and freshman tailback Ronald Jones II’s 27-yard touchdown run and appeared poised to possibly deal Stanford its first loss in three conference title-game appearances.

The Cardinal ended up winning 41-22.

“My job was easy”, McCaffrey said. The battle in the trenches was one that USC needed to win in order to be successful but the Cardinal took that away as early as the first possession when McCaffrey attacked the Trojans right side.

Utah and USC were the other 2 Pac-12 teams in the final polls until after the bowl games, with the Utes #20 in both the AP & Coaches’ polls, and #22 in the CFP, and USC at #25 in the CFP.

The record of 3,250 all-purpose yards in a single season was set by Sanders in 1988 – after a two-yard run during the second quarter, McCaffrey became the new owner of the record many thought could never be eclipsed.

Stanford’s offense possessed the ball for 21 minutes in the first half, while USC had possession for 9 minutes. Do you know anything?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, coach, you couldn’t say anything bad about him.’ He’s going to come up to you, no matter who you are, and he’s going to be respectful. USC rebounded with an impressive defensive effort against UCLA before Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey tore through the Trojans for 461 all-purpose yards Saturday. McCaffrey has been the difference maker down the stretch for Stanford and he is a large reason why the Cardinals were still in the hunt for the playoff during championship weekend. “They had a ideal play call for their defense”. “You get the opportunity to be the coach at USC one time, and I’m going to bring in the coaches that I feel can help us toward a championship”. That is when Hogan hit McCaffrey over the middle for the 67-yard play that put the ball at the USC 7.Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan scored on the next play to put Stanford ahead 20-16. The Trojans will play Wisconsin (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) in the Holiday Bowl on December 30. “There’s really no time”.Stanford was unranked and McCaffrey, a sophomore, was largely unknown after rushing for 66 and 58 yards.

Without McCaffrey Stanford is not in the top 10 and perhaps not in the top 25.

“I was told it was nothing other than they wanted to go in another direction”, Heyward said. Oh, and he threw an 11-yard touchdown too.