Stanford's Best Offense Since Andrew Luck Era Makes It Real Playoff Contender

STANFORD, Calif. — Just one game into a long season, Stanford’s long flight home to the Bay Area from a six-point outing at Northwestern in their opener seemed to weigh on the Cardinal unlike any other loss in recent memory.

Written off by pundits, criticized near and far by fans and media alike, Stanford was 0-1 on the season and gone from the national conversation. A dark-horse contender in the Pac-12 turned into a mere afterthought by Week 2 thanks to an offense that looked incoherent, uneven and unorganized against the lowly Wildcats.

But like every boulder teetering on a hill, all the determined and still-talented Cardinal needed was a push. It came in the form of a flea-flicker against Central Florida in the home opener when quarterback Kevin Hogan connected with Michael Rector for a 53-yard strike to score the first touchdown of the season.

It may have taken six quarters of action before the team found pay dirt in 2015, but after Thursday night’s 56-35 dismantling of No. 18 UCLA, Stanford appears quite comfortable returning to the end zone no matter the time, place or opponent.

“People panic, all the time, whenever something goes wrong. But coaches and players can’t panic when something goes wrong…sometimes you don’t play well,” head coach David Shaw said after handing the Bruins their second loss of the year and further establishing his team as favorites to make it to the Pac-12 title game. “I said it a bunch of times, somebody has to make the first basket. That’s what that flea-flicker was at UCF.

“We trust our scheme and trust our guys. We just went back to playing football and having fun doing it.”

The aftermath of that first basket four games ago has turned normally plodding Stanford into the football version of Loyola Marymount hoops from long before the current players were even born. The Cardinal have reeled off games with 31, 41, 42, 55 and 56 points since the debacle against Northwestern and show no signs of stopping.

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

And just like those Loyola Marymount teams of the late '80s that were scoring at will, the Cardinal have their own version of guard Bo Kimble in sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey.

On Thursday morning, McCaffrey’s father, Ed, likely woke up as the most famous member of the family after winning a pair of Super Bowls as a reliable NFL receiver for former Stanford quarterback John Elway.

As the clock ticked over to Friday morning across most of the country, though, it was the young tailback on the Farm who had suddenly become the household name in college football and the key to a dangerous offensive attack that is much more than three yards and a cloud of dust.

McCaffrey’s 369 all-purpose yards were the most by any FBS player all season, and he also set the school record for rushing yards…in just three quarters of work. After entering the game with just a single touchdown on the year, McCaffrey punched it in four times against the Bruins.

“I didn’t even know about [the records] until they said something on the loudspeaker,” McCaffrey said, shaking his head with a sly smile. “It’s cliche, but props to the O-line and receivers blocking down the field. Those were the guys who really made it happen. I just had to run.”

Run, run and run some more, possibly even to New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation. McCaffrey’s numbers put him on pace to rewrite a number of school single-season records and threaten several others in the FBS record book. He won’t ever be labeled a “big back” like some of his predecessors at Stanford, but that’s fine.

McCaffrey is unique, he’s good and he’s here to stay.

“He’s just an incredible athlete, I wouldn’t even call him just a running back,” backfield-mate Hogan said. “He’s an incredible football player who does it all well. He’s very hard on himself, and he helps bring the best out of himself.”

The new star’s efforts are certainly carrying over to his teammates, and McCaffrey doesn’t mind jump-starting a big play for others, either.

In a back-breaking play early in the third quarter, McCaffrey lined up in the Wildcat formation, handed the ball off to fellow running back Bryce Love and sealed off the edge from any Bruins defenders. That allowed Love to pitch the ball to Hogan, who launched it toward the end zone.

The ball was slightly underthrown, but that didn’t seem to matter to junior wideout Francis Owusu, who bear-hugged UCLA defensive back Jaleel Wadood and caught the ball behind the defender’s back as they tumbled to the turf.

It was the catch of the season bar none, and one even Odell Beckham Jr. can’t top.

“I can’t describe that catch. I still can’t. I don’t understand what happened, to be honest,” Shaw remarked. “They showed it on the board and I’ve been told my facial expression was on TV many times. Just a phenomenal catch.”

For UCLA, that image was ingrained into fans’ minds during another forgettable trip to the Bay Area, a place the Bruins have won just three times in the past decade against in-state rivals Stanford and California.

While the box score may not have looked too bad aside from the final score, it was easily the most concerning defensive performance head coach Jim Mora has had in the past few seasons with a team that looked like the conference’s top dog just two weeks ago.

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Penalties haunted the Bruins from the outset, and things never seemed to go their way again. On the team’s first offensive drive of the game, UCLA converted a 3rd-and-short, but wide receiver Jordan Payton was called for offensive pass interference to negate the play and back the team up 15 yards. On the next play, quarterback Josh Rosen threw a pick-six.

That pretty much summed up the night for Mora’s team, even if the damage was far from over.   

The way things are going, though, they won’t be the only ones to suffer a defeat like that at the hands of a Stanford team that is playing as well as—if not better than—any other in the country.

“I think we might have been pressing too hard early on,” Hogan admitted about the team’s mindset following the loss to Northwestern. “We’re on our way to our goal right now, though. Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise, what happened at the beginning of the season. You realize how hard it is to win a college football game. You can’t take anybody lightly.”

Stanford certainly won’t be taken lightly nationally after Thursday night’s thrashing.

With just two road games to conference bottom-dwellers Washington State and Colorado and a likely two-game lead in the division before November rolls around, the Cardinal once again appear to be for real in the Pac-12 race and have a schedule that sets up nicely for a run to the College Football Playoff.

Such a scenario playing out seemed unthinkable back at the beginning of September, but halfway through the season, the team sits with its destiny ahead of it.

All it took was one play for Stanford to turn around its season, and thanks to McCaffrey, Hogan and others leading the way, there doesn’t seem to be anybody who can slow down this potent offense.

Bryan Fischer covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.