“It was tough, but I told our guys that we have to make the most of our drives when we do get them”.
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The only reason the Trojans don’t fail this portion of class is because McCaffrey is a Heisman candidate at running back. Stanford won the Pac-12 title in emphatic fashion, coming back from a third-quarter deficit to beat USC 41-22.
Help, though, never arrived. If Stanford loses this game, it’s over.
What was surprising, however, was that Notre Dame was able to rack up 533 total yards and 36 points on Stanford.
Adoree Jackson was pleased with the opportunity to play a high-risk, high-reward scheme, finishing with six tackles and two pass breakups. While he didn’t throw an interception, he rarely made the big play through the air.
Stanford Coach David Shaw said McCaffrey was the best player in the nation.
“What’s the score of the Clemson-North Carolina game?” It’ll probably take a loss of Alabama or Clemson to open up room for them. Stanford wasn’t affected by the outside world Saturday, and they won’t be going forward.
Michigan State scored late to pull out a 16-13 win.
Remember when Pasadena was the pot at the end of your rainbow?
“We just didn’t execute and made him look great”, defensive lineman Antwaun Woods said. I can’t wait to play in the championship game.
The Rose is pigskin postscript.
“The question is should there be an eight-team playoff?” “We knew that, if we wanted to win the game, we were going to have to run the ball efficiently, and those guys were unbelievable”.
USC doesn’t quite have the star power that Stanford has but they have been winning with their ground game as they have outrushed their opponents in every single game this year by an average of more than 100 yards. This is the first the Trojans have led all game.
The prize for the Cardinal is an appearance in the Rose Bowl.
Stanford’s trip to Pasadena will be more joyous.
Yet, it is only human to wonder what might have been. There was a bit of frustration at missed opportunities, especially in the Cardinal’s Week One loss to Northwestern, too.
That one was eventually forgiven. But the Stanford football team is impervious to the outside world. The Trojans got within five early in the fourth quarter, but two McCaffrey touchdowns sealed the contest.
Earlier in the week, Shaw said he he wasn’t losing any sleep worrying whether the Cardinal would make the final four.
According to Christian McCaffrey’s mother Lisa, his childhood bedroom was filled with posters of Barry Sanders.
Oklahoma now holds the No. 3 spot. Here are three thoughts on Stanford’s conference title.
It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t matter. That parity could be credited for keeping the Pac-12 out of the playoff.
Heisman Trophy favorite Derrick Henry reiterated his case with another bruising effort, gaining 189 yards in 44 carries. “In my opinion, he should win the Heisman”.
“I know (Sanders) did it in a couple less games – I don’t know if you take that into consideration or not — but that’s a huge honor”, McCaffrey said. I couldn’t do it without my teammates.
“I was put in situations to be successful”, McCaffrey said. Jahleel Pinner caught a touchdown pass, while Ronald Jones followed it up with a 27-yard jaunt to the endzone.
“He’s as special a player as we’ve played all season”, USC head coach Clay Helton said postgame. “(John) Elway, (Jim) Plunkett, (Andrew) Luck and Kevin – I don’t think it’s even a question”. They didn’t seem to care that the Cardinal’s bid to play in for the national championship would be determined 3,000 miles away, at the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.
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“I mean, what doesn’t he do is what you could ask me”, Cravens said. “There is nobody in the nation doing what he’s doing”.
