Rice Owls vs Stanford Cardinal Box Score on Nov 26, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Nov 26, 2016

STANFORD, Calif. -- Christian McCaffrey rushed for 204 yards to lead 24th-ranked Stanford to a 41-17 victory over Rice on a rainy Saturday evening in what might have been the final home game of his college career.

McCaffrey, a junior, amassed 484 yards on the ground in the Cardinal's final two regular-season games. On Saturday, he picked up 271 all-purpose yards and had one touchdown run and one touchdown reception for Stanford, which finished with 534 yards of offense.

McCaffrey has yet to announce whether he will give up his final season of college eligibility to enter the NFL Draft, but he will play at least one more college game as the Cardinal (9-3) head into the postseason on a five-game winning streak.

The Cardinal could end up in one of several bowls, depending on how the College Football Playoff rankings shake out. Their most likely postseason destinations are the Las Vegas Bowl, the Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas) and the Foster Farms Bowl (Santa Clara, Calif.).

Stanford's Bryce Love had only seven carries against Rice but produced 111 rushing yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run.

Cardinal quarterback Keller Chryst was 11 of 16 for 154 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he scored the game's first touchdown on a 62-yard run.

Chryst became Stanford's starting quarterback in the eighth game of the season and the Cardinal are 5-0 in games started by Chryst, all against teams with losing records.

Rice ends its season with a 3-9 record. Owls redshirt freshman quarterback Jackson Tyner made his first collegiate start, replacing Tyler Stehling, who suffered a knee injury last week. Tyner completed 10 of 37 passes for just 68 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Samuel Stewart rushed for 77 yards for the Owls.

The Cardinal increased a 20-3 halftime lead to 27-3 on McCaffrey's 19-yard touchdown run with 9:04 left in the third quarter.

A 6-yard Jowan Davis touchdown run cut the deficit to 27-10, but Love's 50-yard scoring run restored Stanford's 24-point lead. Francis Owusu's 45-yard touchdown reception increased the Cardinal lead to 41-10.

Stanford dominated the first half, which ended with the Cardinal holding a 20-3 lead.

McCaffrey's first-half work included 122 rushing yards, a 23-yard touchdown reception and a 33-yard punt return.

Tyner threw incompletions on his first seven throws but completed 8 of 16 passes for 56 yards in the rest of the first half.

Stanford scored first on a 62-yard touchdown run by Chryst, who scrambled out of the pocket on a third-an-10 play, then tight-roped his way along the left sideline to end zone with 12:17 left in the first quarter.

A 39-yard run by Bryce Love on the Cardinal's second possession set up a 28-yard Conrad Ukropina field goal that made it 10-0. Ukropina added a 23-yard field goal to give Stanford a 13-0 lead after one quarter.

McCaffrey put Stanford in position for another score with his 33-yard punt return, and he caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Chryst on the next play to increase the Cardinal's lead to 20-0.

A 2-yard touchdown run by Davis was negated by a holding penalty late in the second quarter and Rice had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Jack Fox with 13 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 17 points at intermission.

NOTES: QB Tyler Stehling, a fifth-year senior who started 10 of Rice's first 11 games, suffered a knee injury during the first series of last week's game against UTEP, ending his season. ... Stanford junior RB Christian McCaffrey began the weekend ranked first nationally in all-purpose yards per game (205.6) and fourth in rushing yards per game (139.9). NFLDraftScout.com projects him to be a late first-round draft choice if he enters the 2017 NFL Draft. ... Stanford played without CB Alijah Holder (shoulder) and LB Mike Tyler (undisclosed). ... Saturday's Rice-Stanford game was arranged in 2006. Rice went 7-6 that year and Stanford was 1-11. ... Rice and Stanford last met in 1964. ... Rice entered the game ranked last in the country in yards allowed per play (7.32).