For the third time in four years, roses are Cardinal red.

This team has come a long way since that season-opening loss at Northwestern. Through the highs of a dramatic victory over USC, a heartbreaking loss to Oregon, a record-breaking triumph over UCLA and countless more moments, this Stanford team has persevered on the back of its monstrous offensive line, game-changing efforts from Christian McCaffrey and the grizzled leadership of Kevin Hogan.

But they saved their best for last.

Behind a record-shattering night from McCaffrey, another brutally efficient game from Hogan and an inspired team effort for the ages, No. 7 Stanford (11-2, 8-1 Pac-12) rode its playmakers in one dramatic charge, fighting through late adversity to pull away from No. 20 USC (8-5, 6-3) in a 41-22 victory and secure the 15th conference title in program history — and presumably, a berth in the 102nd Rose Bowl.

“Just as a team, I’m very proud of the guys for sticking together after the beginning of the year and a couple of the ups and downs,” said head coach David Shaw. “Our guys were finding ourselves and then coming off and playing great football down the stretch as well as anybody in the nation.”

There simply aren’t words in the English language adequate enough to describe the titanic performance of McCaffrey.

He recorded receiving, rushing and passing touchdowns, rushed for 207 yards and notched 105 receiving yards as part of a ludicrous 461-yard all-purpose day — by far a school record, and giving him a season total of 3,496 yards, shattering the all-time single-season record of 3,250 set by Barry Sanders in 1988.

After the game, the stage at the awards ceremony shook as Stanford’s players and fans, as one, stood and rocked in unison, chanting, “Heisman! Heisman! Heisman!” in commemoration of McCaffrey’s historic effort to push Stanford to victory.

And in his postgame presser, Shaw couldn’t have been more blunt about his opinion on the matter.

“[McCaffrey] here is the best player in the nation,” Shaw said. “I don’t know if there’s any question. There’s nobody in the nation doing what he’s doing. It’s not even a debate.”

But for as tremendous as McCaffrey’s effort was, the game took an equally gutty effort from Hogan, the team’s elder statesman, for the Cardinal to push past the Trojans for the second time this season.

McCaffrey wasn’t the only one to record touchdowns in three phases of the game — Hogan added rushing, passing and receiving touchdowns of his own as part of a 9-for-12, 144-yard effort in which he wasn’t asked to do too much as a passer but excelled when he was, completing all of his passes after the first quarter.

But more importantly, his quiet confidence was the consistent force that made sure that even when Stanford faced a USC comeback in the second half, Stanford never faltered, instead roaring back with aplomb to put the title squarely in the Cardinal’s crosshairs.

“It’s so fun when we get put in situations where we have to go through adversity because [Hogan] is the ice man,” McCaffrey said. “When I’m sitting there knowing that he’s our quarterback, I know we’ve got nothing to worry about because that’s one of the greatest leaders and greatest competitors I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“What he’s been able to do here with his arm, with his legs and to be honest, with his heart and his toughness, taking us to three Pac-12 Championship games in four years is unbelievable,” Shaw added. “It’s unmatched.”

Behind Hogan’s and McCaffrey’s efforts, Stanford outgained USC 417-357 and held the ball for 35 minutes, getting off to a fast start but using a late turnover generated by a rejuvenated defense to hold off a furious Trojans comeback and pull away in the fourth quarter.

USC started off incredibly slowly and Stanford dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in the first quarter, but the Cardinal were held to two field goals and a turnover on downs on three of their first four red-zone possessions to limit the Cardinal’s lead to 13-0 late in the second quarter.

However, the Cardinal broke out some trickery to hit the end zone in the fourth of those trips, with Barry Sanders taking the handoff and pitching it on a reverse to McCaffrey, who found Hogan in the end zone on a touchdown pass — his second of the year, and the first receiving touchdown of Hogan’s career.

“My job was easy,” McCaffrey said. “Those are always the scariest ones though when he’s that wide open. You’re just praying that you get it to him.”

But USC battled back, driving 71 yards for a field goal to cut the halftime lead to 13-3 and then driving 65 and 75 yards on its first two possessions of the second half to take a 16-13 lead.

And then the defense found its second wind and turned the tables in a big way.

With Stanford up 20-16 and USC driving down the field, senior inside linebacker Blake Martinez stripped the ball from USC quarterback Cody Kessler on his first sack of the season in the third quarter, allowing sophomore defensive end Solomon Thomas to scoop up the ball and run it back 34 yards for a touchdown.

After that, Stanford’s secondary, led by the returns of top cornerbacks Ronnie Harris and Alijah Holder, put USC’s talented receiving corps on lockdown, limiting stud wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to just 87 yards on his 11 receptions.

“When Ronnie’s back on the field, it’s just that energy, that fire, that passion,” Shaw said. “He made some great plays. He doesn’t back down from anybody. The rest of our guys felt that.”

Even when Harris had to leave the game because his injured ankle was bothering him, Holder and sophomore Alameen Murphy showed up with the finest performances of their young careers to absolutely shut Smith-Schuster down and limit Kessler’s downfield options.

“Alijah Holder is a spectacular treat,” Harris said. “He’s not even at 100 percent, and you guys just witnessed some of the stuff he can do. He’s going to be one hell of a player coming up these next couple of years.”

With Stanford up 34-22 with time winding down in the fourth quarter, the secondary forced a USC turnover on downs to effectively end the game. Stanford added a fourth-down conversion and a late McCaffrey rushing touchdown to reach the final 41-22 margin and put the Trojans away for good.

Stanford took the Trojans’ best shot. And the Cardinal prevailed, reaffirming their status as not just conference champions, but kings of California.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Shaw said. “We knew it was going to be kind of a test of wills.”

And even though victories by Clemson and Alabama ensured that Stanford will almost certainly be left out of the College Football Playoff, nobody cares about that — because on this day in Santa Clara, the Cardinal came, saw and conquered to prevail in their ultimate goal all season: to win the Pac-12.

And it was as sweet as the smell of roses in Pasadena on Jan. 1.

“The Rose Bowl will never get old,” Harris said. “Neither will Disneyland.”

 

Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dhpark ‘at’ stanford.edu.

For a photo gallery of the Pac-12 Championship Game, click here.