Stanford defeats Kansas State, 26-13: Christian McCaffrey highlights

Christian McCaffrey begins his 2016 Heisman campaign with 194 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in the Stanford Cardinal’s 26-13 victory over Kansas State.

Stanford Cardinal star running back Christian McCaffrey put together a solid first game for his 2016 Heisman Trophy campaign. The junior tailback had 194 all-purpose yards, including 126 rushing yards and two pay dirts that counted.

McCaffrey’s best moment from Week 1’s convincing victory over the Kansas State Wildcats, 17-6, might have come on a play that didn’t actually count. His first highlight play came on a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown halfway through the first quarter. It did not count, as one of McCaffrey’s Stanford teammates was called for a block in the back.

Halfway through the second quarter, McCaffrey finally got on the board for the Cardinal with a magnificent 35-yard touchdown run. McCaffrey showcased his agility and breakaway speed on the impressive scoring play.

It wasn’t all great for McCaffrey on Friday night, as he fumbled the ball for what was almost an easy scoop and score for Kansas State. Had the Wildcats defender not stepped out of bounds near the Stanford 20, McCaffrey could have been the reason for a 40+ yard Wildcat defensive touchdown.

For most of the game, Kansas State did a solid job mitigating the damage caused my McCaffrey on the ground. Eventually, the Wildcats’ levee did break inside of Sanford Stadium.

With Kansas State pressing near two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Stanford benefited from a botch Wildcats onside kick. On the first play of that series, McCaffrey scampered into the end zone for a 41-yard run to seal the deal for the Cardinal. Stanford would go up 26-13 after the PAT, winning by that score.

Though other players in the Power 5 may end up with a more impressive Week 1 showing than Stanford’s McCaffrey, he did put together a few highlight reel worthy plays against a decent Big 12 program like Kansas State.

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Stanford did a fine job attacking the field aerially by completing 15-19 passes. Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder made it a point to stack the box to try to contain McCaffrey as best his team could. It wasn’t enough for Kansas State to pull of the upset victory on the road. McCaffrey only helped his Heisman campaign with a strong showing in Week 1 against Kansas State.