Was it a two year pent up grudge for the Rose Bowl loss to Michigan State
24-20? Or a desire to show that Heisman runner-up Christian McCaffrey
was the nation’s best player? No matter the reason, #6 Stanford rock,
rattled, and rolled
to their fourth Football’s Final Four over the past six seasons with a
convincing win over the Spartans.
From
the start, McCaffrey ran, punt returned, and pass recept-ed all over
the Spartans defense. The only redeeming factor was that the Spartans
defense initially kept the Cardinal out of the end zone. Stanford
kicker Conrad Ukropina
hit 4 first half field goals, 2 in the first quarter and a pair in the
second, while the Spartans offense sputtered, and the Cardinal led
12-0. But a bit of trickery gave Stanford a chance to cross the goal
line. With 8:22 left in the half, Stanford QB Kevin
Hogan faked a fumble and then found Michael Rector in the end zone for a
31-yard touchdown. The Cardinal were cruising with a 19-0 halftime
lead.
Unusual
for a Mark Dantonio team, #3 Michigan State could not find a way to
stick around score-wise to have a punchers chance at the end with their
proclivity to scratch and claw out key wins. In their third straight
tournament, the Spartans
had never been ousted in their first game, and losses like last
season’s 1-point Sugar Bowl defeat to Alabama certainly demonstrated
their grit. But today, Stanford owned all the moxie.
In
the third quarter, another Ukropina 31 yard field goal, followed by a
42 yard pass from Hogan to Rector finished the scoring. Stanford
finished up a 29-0 defeat of Michigan State to return to the Semi-Finals
in San Antonio, and a match-up
with Alabama.
Whether
it is Jim Harbaugh or David Shaw at the helm, or Andrew Luck or Kevin
Hogan under center, Stanford has been amazingly consistent. Over the
past six seasons, five Rose Bowl appearances, four Rose Bowl
victories/Final Four berths,
and one championship game appearance. They hope to take the next step
this season, and win another game in Pac-12 country, at the National
Championship game in Arizona.
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