PASADENA, Calif. — The first time Christian McCaffrey touched the ball in the 102nd Rose Bowl, he took it 75 yards for a spectacular touchdown. A few hundred yards later, Stanford’s sophomore star had smashed the oldest bowl’s record for all-purpose offense.
Sure, McCaffrey didn’t win the Heisman Trophy, and Stanford barely missed out on the College Football Playoff.
But McCaffrey and the Cardinal still began the new year with the Pac-12 champions’ most coveted postseason trophy – and the brightest of futures.
McCaffrey caught a touchdown pass on the opening snap and returned a punt 66 yards for another score Friday while racking up 368 all-purpose yards, propelling No. 5 Stanford to a 45-16 victory against Iowa.
Kevin Hogan passed for 223 yards and three TDs in his final game for the Cardinal (12-2), which won the Granddaddy of Them All for the second time in three trips over the past four years.
“It’s so fun when a team can come together,” McCaffrey said. “We’ve got a bunch of fighters on this team that will never give up. Just love playing with these guys.”
McCaffrey broke the all-purpose yards record of 348 set by Jared Abbrederis of Wisconsin in 2012. McCaffrey finished second behind Derrick Henry of Alabama in the Heisman voting, but left no doubt about his brilliance with one of the most dynamic performances in the Rose Bowl’s lengthy history.
“I think he was the best player in America before this game, so I think it’s just the icing on the cake,” Stanford Coach David Shaw said. “I do think it’s a shame that a lot of people didn’t get to see him during the course of the year. Apparently the games were too late.”
McCaffrey scored 11 seconds in. Hogan’s opening throw to McCaffrey was the second-longest TD pass in Rose Bowl history and the longest play given up all season by Iowa.
McCaffrey finished with 172 yards rushing, 105 yards receiving and 91 on kick returns.
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