SYDNEY - Bryce Love proved he could fill in quite nicely as Christian McCaffrey's replacement at Stanford, scoring a touchdown and finishing with 180 yard rushing to lead the 14th-ranked Cardinal to a 62-7 victory over Rice on Saturday in the Sydney College Football Cup.
Love, installed as the No. 1 player in the backfield after McCaffrey was drafted in the first round by the Carolina Panthers, had 13 carries, including a 62-yard burst through the Rice line on Stanford's opening play from scrimmage. He didn't play much after the middle of the third quarter.
"Bryce is going to be our lead dog," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "But it's nice to know we've got some guys who can back him up. I'm excited about where Bryce is heading into this season. We don't want to wear Bryce out in any one game, so those guys have got to come out and make plays like they did today."
Cameron Scarlett was one of those guys.
Scarlett, a junior who also moved up in the Stanford pecking order, had three touchdowns, all rushing, and finished with 68 yards on nine carries. He also had one 56-yard pass reception.
Endzone flow! @cam_scarlett11 rumbles 29 yards for another Stanford TD.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/hOVsg6ngId
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) August 27, 2017
The Cardinal led 38-0 at halftime and scored touchdowns on its first four possessions.
Rice, trailing 55-0, finally broke its scoreless drought with six minutes remaining on running back Austin Walker's 23-yard touchdown run.
Quarterback Keller Chryst, who tore the ACL in his right knee in December in the Sun Bowl, showed no sign of the injury. Chryst finished with 14 completions in 24 attempts for 253 yards and two touchdowns before Ryan Burns and later K.J. Costello took over with Stanford leading 45-0. Costello scored the final Stanford touchdown on a 25-yard run.
"It was great to see Keller Chryst come and be completely healthy, and be able to run the show from the quarterback position," Shaw said.
The Cardinal offense was in strong early-season form, with 656 total yards -- 369 passing and 287 rushing. Also, eight touchdowns, 27 first downs and an average of 9.0 yards per play.
It was Stanford's second game outside the U.S., and first since 1986 when the Cardinal beat Arizona, 29-24, in Tokyo. It was the second year in a row that a regular-season college game was played in Sydney. Last year, Cal beat Hawaii, 51-31, at the Olympic stadium with 62,000 spectators. This year the game was moved to Allianz Stadium, closer to the downtown area. Officials said there 33,181 spectators Sunday at the 45,000-seat venue.
After a week off, Stanford plays at Pac-12 favorite USC on Sept. 9.