Christian McCaffrey capped off a successful night by breaking the 100 yard threshold with a rushing touchdown.
On College Football Saturday eve, all eyes were on Christian McCaffrey. The Heisman finalist was expected to dominate the Kansas State defense, and for the most part, he has. But in what was a low-scoring game, it took him a while until he could reach 100 rushing yards. Once Kansas State brought themselves back to within six points, McCaffrey finally put an exclamation mark on a successful evening:
"CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY😱😱😱#WildCaff now has 100 yards rushing in 14 straight games! #KSUvsSTAN📺: FS1https://t.co/qDO4gqfvYV— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 3, 2016"
Truth be told, McCaffrey should’ve gotten to 100 yards earlier, but he had a 96-yard punt return called back. Nevertheless, it was still a very dominant performance, and one that garnered Reggie Bush comparisons from Matt Leinart:
You can feel it in the stadium. Every time he touches the ball the crowd hold its breath. Reminds me of a certain former teammate!
— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) September 3, 2016
While Derrick Henry was excellent last season, the general consensus among the college football universe was that McCaffrey was robbed. Christian McCaffrey didn’t have the same supporting cast that Henry did, and he was a much more versatile player, having racked up 645 receiving yards. He also broke Barry Sanders’ record for all-purpose yards in a season, when he finished with 3,520.
Next: Heisman Watch 2016: Week 1 players to watch
When the season started, a lot of people were upset when it was announced that #Pac12AfterDark would be scaled back. This game started at 6 pm local time rather than 7 pm. But it can only be good for Christian McCaffrey and Stanford fans, since the earlier start times means the Heisman committee will be paying more attention to his games. As much as they don’t like to admit it, East Coast bias played a big part in Henry’s Heisman win.
With Week 1 wrapped up, this performance was a statement of intent to the rest of the league: Christian McCaffrey is back, and he ain’t playing around.