STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford's 26-13 season-opening victory over Kansas State on Friday at Stanford Stadium was a contest of contradictions for the Cardinal.
Christian McCaffrey scored on touchdown runs of 41 and 35 yards, but he was largely bottled up on his way to a still-sterling 126-yard rushing performance. But was Stanford relying too heavily on the reigning AP Player of the Year?
Quarterback Ryan Burns, in his first collegiate start, completed 14 of 18 passes for 156 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. But the Cardinal offense sputtered in the second half, gaining only 70 yards and picking up only three first downs.
Stanford beat one of the nation's prominent and consistently strong programs and avoided a repeat of the season-opening loss to Northwestern last year. But considering the result, there was little sense of contentment – especially with USC looming on Sept. 17.
However, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw provided some helpful perspective in addressing the team afterward. Stressing the positive, Shaw praised the team's hard work and effort, and reminded the team that there will be opportunities to clean things up before facing the Trojans.
"We've just set the bar for where we are," Shaw said to the media. "I love the effort, but we have to be cleaner."
Stanford had trouble shaking the Wildcats, who closed to within 19-13 with 2:20 left. But after an onside kick failed, Stanford clinched the victory on McCaffrey's 41-yarder on the Cardinal's next play from scrimmage.
The defense provided most of the Stanford highlights as the game wore on, finishing with eight sacks, including a safety from a Jordan Watkins sack in the fourth quarter. The Cardinal intercepted two passes, by Dallas Lloyd and Quenton Meeks in the second half, and got a big third-down stop by Peter Kalambayi to keep the Wildcats at bay.
?? #PARTYINTHEBACKFIELD ??#GoStanford https://t.co/MZOtV4F2Zm
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) September 3, 2016
McCaffrey finished with 126 yards rushing on 22 carries, and caught seven passes for 40 yards while totaling 210 all-purpose yards. However, he could have had much more, on one his most spectacular plays to date.
Coasting backward to field a punt at his own 3 in the first quarter, Kansas State fans let out a roar when McCaffrey was immediately hit by three defenders.
As he was spun by a defender low, McCaffrey bounced off two others and sprung free. Hit again at the 5, McCaffrey again bounced free, and did so again at 10, side-stepped a defender at the 15 and sprinted up the left sideline for an apparent 97-yard score.
However, the play was nullified by a push in the back by Stanford freshman Curtis Robinson behind the play. Nullified or not, it provided yet more evidence to McCaffrey's talent. And it would have been a school-record for punt return distance.
"There is a reason why there are no 97-yard punt returns," Shaw said. "Because you should not catch the ball on the 3-yard line."
About the flag: "It was a good call," Shaw said.
"That's the best punt return that didn't count I've ever seen."
Nonetheless, Stanford ground out a 98-yard scoring drive anyway, with Michael Rector closing it out with a 40-yard reception from a Burns pass. Burns drew the defense with play fake to McCaffrey and instead lofted the ball downfield to Rector, who was yards behind the nearest defender.
Burns, a senior, admitted to some nervousness before taking the field.
"I've been waiting for this for three years," he said. "It was really special. I tried to tone it down in my mind, but it still hadn't hit me when I was on the field. I got used to it pretty quickly."
Burns stood strong in the pocket and showed some great touch on his passes, particularly on a 15-yard completion on a third-and-14 play to tight end Greg Taboada. Burns split two defenders and threw it just high enough so Taboada was the only one who could reach it.
During the second half, as the team had trouble moving the ball, McCaffrey approached Burns, who played all but one series in the game – except for an apparent planned series for Keller Chryst – and reassured his quarterback.
Burns said he was happy with how he started – with points on each of his first two drives – and that he felt the offense got too comfortable in the second half. Shaw, however, pointed to Kansas State's changing blitz schemes.
Either way, the team knows there is much to do. In the running game, without speedster Bryce Love who is out with an injury, the rest of the Stanford team beyond McCaffrey combined for minus-21 rushing yards Cameron Scarlett was the only other running back to get a carry, and he lost seven yards on a pair of outside running plays.
In Chryst's only series, he completed his only pass – 11 yards to McCaffrey – and drove the Cardinal 65 yards on five plays. The series ended when McCaffrey nearly walked into the end zone to complete a 35-yard touchdown run – another for the #WildCaff highlights.
McCaffrey started left, cut upfield, and made a hard cut right that froze a defender and opened the field for his score, with Chryst providing the final block.
?? There he goes, there @CMccaffrey5 goes again. ??#GoStanford #BeatKSU https://t.co/iBulSrjqZY
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) September 3, 2016
"I wanted him to get in in the third quarter," Shaw said of Chryst. "But we sputtered so much, I didn't want to throw a new quarterback into the mix there. But he'll continue to play."
The second half opened disastrously for the Cardinal. Burns tried to pull the ball in on a handoff to McCaffrey, who already had both hands on the ball. The confusion resulted in a loose ball that Kansas State's Charmeachealle Moore returned 35 yards to set up Matthew McCrane's 30-yard field goal that cut the Wildcats' deficit to 17-6 midway through the third quarter.
After the Stanford safety, Kansas State surprised the Cardinal with a squib free kick and recovered it easily to ignite a touchdown drive that ended with a 15-yard fade pass from Jesse Ertz to Isaiah Zuber to the deep corner on fourth down.
Otherwise, the Wildcats were stymied in the fourth quarter by two Jake Bailey punts that were downed by Trent Irwin at the 1- and 2-yard lines.
McCaffrey's importance was evident from the opening kickoff. McCaffrey nearly broke the return and touched the ball on Stanford's first four offensive plays and seven of the game's first eight plays altogether.
McCaffrey completed the first half with 74 yards on 13 carries, and five catches for 34 yards.
"I loved the effort and passion," Shaw said. "Christian, he drives himself and he drives his teammates."
Defensively, Stanford welcomed the return of defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, playing for the first time since injuring his knee in last year's season-opener. Phillips stuffed Charles Jones for no gain on Kansas State's first offensive play. He later batted down a pass and got a sack.
Lloyd pulled down an interception and knocked down a pass in the third quarter, but Kansas State began to move the ball more consistently while the Stanford offense began to sputter. The result was a game that increased in drama as the game wore on.
Stanford was outgained 335-272 and even relinquished the greater time of possession, despite dominating in that category in the first half. But the Cardinal defense was superb when it needed to be. Kalambayi had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss, and Watkins had two sacks.
The great defensive line depth that Stanford enjoys – as opposed to the thin group last year – was a boon late in the game.
"We saw Solomon Thomas running in the fourth quarter after the quarterback full speed," Shaw said. "He can only do that if we rest him and work other guys in. It allows us to get hits on the quarterback late in the game because the guys are fresher."
McCaffrey seemed disappointed with his performance afterward.
"By nature, he's not a patient human being," Shaw said. "He wants everything to be perfect. He just kept saying it: 'We're so much better than this. We're so much better.' It's not about yards, it's not about carries. It's about our machine when it's humming."
The message: Be patient, enjoy the accomplishment, and give it time.