Iowa (12-1) finished fifth in the playoff rankings, one spot out of the semifinals, while Stanford was sixth.
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Whatever drama awaits them, the Trojans are used to it by now.
“I was put in a bunch of different situations to be successful”, McCaffrey said.
“I don’t know if there is any question”, Shaw said. 75 plays for 65 yards was all it took for the Trojans to become more competitive in the third.
USC scored one more time on a 12-yard keeper by Kessler with 12:29 to play, bringing the Trojans within 27-22, but USC’s own attempt to throw to the quarterback failed on the 2-point conversion. Hogan ran it in from there to give Stanford a lead it didn’t give back. “That’s a guy I had posters of on my wall growing up, so to have my name mentioned in even in the same category as him is definitely an honor”. It took McCaffrey 13 games to set his record, where Sanders only had 11, and he’ll have a bowl game to further it.
“I thought we had a good chance, and then we had that critical error in pass protection”, Helton said.
“I will take my time and due diligence to get the best coaches in to reach our goal of winning a national championship”, Helton said. Oh, and he threw an 11-yard touchdown too.
“If anybody’s better than that guy, I’d like to see it”, safety Chris Hawkins said after Christian McCaffrey went on a four-quarter shuttle run at the Pac-12 Championship Game Saturday, with the Trojans flailing and grabbing and, finally, marveling.
McCaffrey then added a 10-yard run for a score with 1:38 left.
However, a 71-yard drive which amassed 15 plays for the Trojans led to a 40-yard field goal by kicker Alex Wood with 10 seconds left in the half, cutting the Stanford lead to 13-3 and providing USC with some much-needed momentum entering the halftime break.
Sparked by 207 yards on the ground from McCaffrey, the Cardinal dictated the pace of the Pac-12 title game with their rushing attack.
Few in the media are willing to discuss it, but again in a big game, USC quarterback Cody Kessler was involved in a play that helped the other team.
Shaw went for a field goal with the Cardinal on the 1-yard line in the second quarter. His 67-yard catch in the third quarter proved to be a difference-maker, shaking Stanford out of an offensive lull that began when it was denied a goal-line fourth down in the late fourth quarter.
Stanford did its job Saturday, so did McCaffrey, but no one else pitched in. Shaw thinks there should be an eight-team playoff, which might be hypocritical if the sport is trying to limit head injuries and study time.
“We were all fired up that he came here”, Davis said.
NOTES: Stanford beat USC 41-31 in Los Angeles on September 19.
“He’s as special a player as we’ve played all season”, USC head coach Clay Helton said postgame. They will not coach in the December 30 Holiday Bowl against Wisconsin, to which the Trojans accepted a bid, and Helton did not declare a timetable for hiring their replacements.
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It might be tough for McCaffrey to overtake Derrick Henry of Alabama or Deshaun Watson of Clemson in the Heisman Trophy balloting, but it would seem he should be a finalist and get himself a trip to New York City for the presentation. USC C Khaliel Rodgers (ankle) did not play and fourth-string C Nico Falah started in his place….
