Beavers can’t contain Stanford’s X-Factor

The one thing the Oregon State defense stressed this week leading up to their game against Stanford was stop their biggest playmaker– running back Christian McCaffrey.

Currently having a total of 797 yards on the season, the Beavers went into this game expecting him to execute at a high level.

Commonly referred to as the “X-factor” throughout this week, and performed as expected; running for 206 yards out of the 365 total rushing yards Stanford successfully executed against Oregon State.

“Christian McCaffrey had a great game,” said senior safety Devin Chappell.  “Just look at the stats. He had (199) rushing yards, and anyone who has that many yards has a great game.”

McCaffrey averaged 6.2 yards on 32 carries for the Cardinal.  He ran it in for one touchdown, and helped set up his team for two easy field goals.

“(McCaffrey) is really good,” said head coach Gary Andersen.  “You will have problems on your hands if you don’t get to his legs.  His position to be a threat all over the field is really unique to a lot of running backs; they use him in a lot of different situations.”

McCaffrey is a very versatile running back, known to play in the receiver positions as well.  However, Oregon State was able to hold him down to only 6 yards receiving on 2 receptions.

“I feel like we did a good job containing him,” said freshman defensive tackle Elu Aydon.  “We did a good job at slowing him down, for the most part.”

The 10-play drive in the fourth quarter is what guaranteed the win for Stanford.  Quarterback Keller Chryst handed the ball off to McCaffrey on every play; McCaffrey then ran it down the field, gaining a total of 59 yards and set up his team for a field goal.

“We knew that drive was coming,” said Aydon.  “We were just waiting for them to pump the ball, and they did.  They came out with that 10-play drive, straight runs, and Coach A warned us about that.”

McCaffrey’s talent is what earned the Cardinal their victory. Wrapping up his junior year, Andersen hopes it’s the last time he has to game plan for the running back who’s rushed for 405 yards in the last two games against the Beavers.

“He’s a very, very talented young man, he had a ton of success,” said Andersen.  “I’m sure the success will continue for him, for a number of years at this level.  But, I hope not at this level next year; I hope it’s in the NFL next year. That would be great.”