Well, just your average Thursday night at Stanford Stadium. Nothing too interesting during tonight's game or anything.
Hard to know where to start, really.
-Christian McCaffrey breaks Toby Gerhart's single-game rushing record -- on 25 carries. He finished with 243.
-McCaffrey's 369 all-purpose yards were the most by any player in a game this year.
-Francis Owusu makes one of the best catches in Stanford history.
-Stanford gains 300-plus yards on the ground for the third straight game.
-Stanford has won 8 straight games against UCLA. The Bruins had never lost eight straight times to an opponent in program history.
-Kevin Hogan is 5-0 against UCLA.
-A Jim Mora team has never allowed as many as 56 points.
-A Tom Bradley defense had never allowed more than 45 points in a game until Stanford put up 56 tonight.
-Stanford's first pick six since the 2014 Rose Bowl
And so on and so forth. Just an incredible display at Stanford Stadium and one memorable evening of football.
-It might have taken a year longer to come together than some expected, but this is what many anticipated when Stanford signed its 2012 offensive line class. The Cardinal was dominant up front yet again - Christian McCaffrey was obviously unbelievable tonight, but you don't gain 300-plus rushing yards in three straight games without the OL opening a lot of lanes. Tons of credit to the group up front and Mike Bloomgren for the work they've done.
-Speaking of McCaffrey, as the joke goes, it sure seems like he'll have a chance to be Stanford's next Heisman Trophy runner up if he keeps this up. He leads the nation in all-purpose yards and the touchdown total is starting to rise, which, maybe - though I don't want to be too presumptuous here - might move him off of Bleacher Report's "Biggest Pac-12 Disappointments" list. Maybe.
-Stanford's defense was a bit shaky at times, and they did benefit from some UCLA penalties. The pass rush was not great in the first half, and there were some missed tackles. But there were also positives. Stanford recorded two interceptions and got their hands on several other passes. Solomon Thomas continues to flash on a weekly basis - his third down stop of Paul Perkins in the first half was a key play. Joey Alfieri was very active, particularly early. And then as Stanford extended its lead and UCLA was forced to rely heavily on the pass (though they never really consistently established Perkins/the run game), Stanford did start to get a lot more pressure on Rosen. Kalambayi recorded a third quarter sack after a few near misses, and Nate Lohn and Mike Tyler (who seemed pretty active in the pass rush) did in the fourth.
-It sure looks like Josh Rosen is going to be a very good player - not breaking news here. But there were some freshman moments, and Stanford took advantage. And credit Stanford's coaching staff (in part) for at least one of those interceptions. Per Alijah Holder, Stanford's staff had picked up UCLA's tendency to run a certain route on third down. In fact, Duane Akina even called out the route to Holder prior to the play. So Holder anticipated the route and was able to jump in front and record the interception. Well done on all levels.
-Kind of an interesting theme that's been discussed over the past few weeks has been the evolution of David Shaw - that the Cardinal head coach has been more animated/energized on the sidelines during games. It's always hard to know how much to make of those sort of things. But in Alijah Holder's postgame media session, Holder really did rave about how Shaw is a changed coach this season and how that has benefited the team. (Video will be up later tonight or tomorrow.) It's tough to gauge that impact, I think, but it's certainly something worth noting.
-Not the busiest evening for Kevin Hogan, who completed 8-15 passes for 131 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. He did force the INT that was intended for Trent Irwin and there were a few misfires, but overall I thought another yet another solid evening for Hogan.
-Better catch: Whitfield in 2013 or Owusu tonight? And what is it about home games against UCLA that lend themselves to amazing Stanford grabs. Recall that 2011 game when Andrew Luck did this.
More notes
-On the injury front, Shaw said Martinez just got the wind knocked out of him. There was no firm update on Kevin Palma, but Shaw was optimistic that it's not going to be serious. Shaw mentioned hoping to have Palma back next week.
Recruits
Not a big list, of course. Posted it earlier in the day.
Video
-The Francis Owusu catch (Yes, it was No. 1 on SportsCenter's top 10 plays.)
-The Alijah Holder interception
-Christian McCaffrey's 70-yard touchdown run
Hard to know where to start, really.
-Christian McCaffrey breaks Toby Gerhart's single-game rushing record -- on 25 carries. He finished with 243.
-McCaffrey's 369 all-purpose yards were the most by any player in a game this year.
-Francis Owusu makes one of the best catches in Stanford history.
-Stanford gains 300-plus yards on the ground for the third straight game.
-Stanford has won 8 straight games against UCLA. The Bruins had never lost eight straight times to an opponent in program history.
-Kevin Hogan is 5-0 against UCLA.
-A Jim Mora team has never allowed as many as 56 points.
-A Tom Bradley defense had never allowed more than 45 points in a game until Stanford put up 56 tonight.
-Stanford's first pick six since the 2014 Rose Bowl
And so on and so forth. Just an incredible display at Stanford Stadium and one memorable evening of football.
-It might have taken a year longer to come together than some expected, but this is what many anticipated when Stanford signed its 2012 offensive line class. The Cardinal was dominant up front yet again - Christian McCaffrey was obviously unbelievable tonight, but you don't gain 300-plus rushing yards in three straight games without the OL opening a lot of lanes. Tons of credit to the group up front and Mike Bloomgren for the work they've done.
-Speaking of McCaffrey, as the joke goes, it sure seems like he'll have a chance to be Stanford's next Heisman Trophy runner up if he keeps this up. He leads the nation in all-purpose yards and the touchdown total is starting to rise, which, maybe - though I don't want to be too presumptuous here - might move him off of Bleacher Report's "Biggest Pac-12 Disappointments" list. Maybe.
-Stanford's defense was a bit shaky at times, and they did benefit from some UCLA penalties. The pass rush was not great in the first half, and there were some missed tackles. But there were also positives. Stanford recorded two interceptions and got their hands on several other passes. Solomon Thomas continues to flash on a weekly basis - his third down stop of Paul Perkins in the first half was a key play. Joey Alfieri was very active, particularly early. And then as Stanford extended its lead and UCLA was forced to rely heavily on the pass (though they never really consistently established Perkins/the run game), Stanford did start to get a lot more pressure on Rosen. Kalambayi recorded a third quarter sack after a few near misses, and Nate Lohn and Mike Tyler (who seemed pretty active in the pass rush) did in the fourth.
-It sure looks like Josh Rosen is going to be a very good player - not breaking news here. But there were some freshman moments, and Stanford took advantage. And credit Stanford's coaching staff (in part) for at least one of those interceptions. Per Alijah Holder, Stanford's staff had picked up UCLA's tendency to run a certain route on third down. In fact, Duane Akina even called out the route to Holder prior to the play. So Holder anticipated the route and was able to jump in front and record the interception. Well done on all levels.
-Kind of an interesting theme that's been discussed over the past few weeks has been the evolution of David Shaw - that the Cardinal head coach has been more animated/energized on the sidelines during games. It's always hard to know how much to make of those sort of things. But in Alijah Holder's postgame media session, Holder really did rave about how Shaw is a changed coach this season and how that has benefited the team. (Video will be up later tonight or tomorrow.) It's tough to gauge that impact, I think, but it's certainly something worth noting.
-Not the busiest evening for Kevin Hogan, who completed 8-15 passes for 131 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. He did force the INT that was intended for Trent Irwin and there were a few misfires, but overall I thought another yet another solid evening for Hogan.
-Better catch: Whitfield in 2013 or Owusu tonight? And what is it about home games against UCLA that lend themselves to amazing Stanford grabs. Recall that 2011 game when Andrew Luck did this.
More notes
-On the injury front, Shaw said Martinez just got the wind knocked out of him. There was no firm update on Kevin Palma, but Shaw was optimistic that it's not going to be serious. Shaw mentioned hoping to have Palma back next week.
Recruits
Not a big list, of course. Posted it earlier in the day.
Video
-The Francis Owusu catch (Yes, it was No. 1 on SportsCenter's top 10 plays.)
-The Alijah Holder interception
-Christian McCaffrey's 70-yard touchdown run
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