The Rose Bowl tomorrow afternoon (2 o’clock, ESPN) will showcase two almost identical physical teams.
Sixth-ranked Stanford (11-2) and No, 5 Iowa (12-1) rely on their running games and efficient play from the quarterbacks. Both teams have impressively look to capitalize on opponents’ mistakes.
What sets Stanford apart is Christian McCaffrey. The nation will see what the West Coast has closely been watching, the Heisman Trophy runnerup.
An all-purpose back, McCaffrey combines speed, toughness, intelligence, Barry Sanders-style moves.
A threat to score every time he touches the ball, he was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. McCaffrey compiled a college record 3,496 all-purpose yards., half of them (1,847) rushing.
If Iowa can stop McCaffrey the game will be won in the trenches.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” Stanford coach David Shaw said at Lawry’s Beef Bowl. “It will be a physical game, an old-fashioned college game. Both teams love to run. Both have athletic players and efficient quarterbacks. Both have defenses that don’t give up a lot of points. Both have special teams that try to establish good field position.”
Sounds inarguably even.
Iowa’s balanced offense ran for 2,496 yards and passed for 2,623 yards. Two Hawkeyes ran for more than 200 yards in two consecutive games. Akrum Wadley logged 204 yards against Northwestern. Jordan Canzeri rushed for 256 yards on a school record 43 carries against Illinois.
“This is like any big game,” said Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz at Lawry’s Beef Bowl. “It all starts with ball security and forcing turnovers. We are playing an outstanding team. If we are going to beat Stanford we must play our best game.”
