Stanford's Christian McCaffrey could break records and Irish hearts

Right up front, David Shaw has a disclaimer when it comes to Christian McCaffrey, Stanford’s do-everything star.

“I’m not making the Reggie Bush comparison,” the coach says. “But it seems like everybody else around me is.”

There’s reason, though, that Shaw isn’t shying from it. McCaffrey, the Cardinal’s sophomore running back — and kick returner and punt returner and you name it, he does it — has emerged as one of the country’s most impactful players. He is coming off a 389-yard performance last week against California. With 2,807 all-purpose yards, he is nearing Barry Sanders’ single-season record (3,249).

But it’s not so much the raw numbers as it is the highlights — that 70-yard touchdown run against UCLA (one of four TDs that day), the 50-yard touchdown reception against Washington, 49 yards on a screen pass and 98 yards on a kickoff return against Cal, and so many more. And the potential, every time he touches the football, for something special. And the transformative effect it has had on No. 12 Stanford’s offense.

“You run out of adjectives to describe him,” Shaw says. “You sit there and you say, ‘wow.’ He’s that good that he can take over any game we play.”

Heisman Survey: Big move for Stanford's Christian McCaffrey

There might be more comparisons to the greats on the way. McCaffrey is third In USA TODAY Sports’ most recent Heisman Survey, behind Alabama running back Derrick Henry and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Earlier this week, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly called McCaffrey “a game-wrecker” — and no one would be surprised if McCaffrey gets loose Saturday, with potential to wreck No. 4 Notre Dame’s shot at reaching the College Football Playoff, and extend Stanford’s hopes of doing it.

“There are some games that get you a little more excited than others,” McCaffrey says. “Notre Dame is one of those games.”

There are some guys who get you a little more excited than others, too. Which is why McCaffrey goes aw-shucks over the comparisons to Bush and the chance to catch Sanders. Bush, he says, is why he started wearing No. 5, back at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo. And he had a poster of Sanders on his wall as a kid, because who didn’t?

“I love the way he plays,” McCaffrey says of Bush, the former USC standout now with the San Francisco 49ers. “I love the concept of how versatile he is. Running between the tackles, returning punts and kicks, just electric.”

McCaffrey shares the Stanford backfield with Sanders’ son, Barry Sanders Jr. He says the friends haven’t talked about McCaffrey’s chances of breaking the record. He hasn’t even met Sanders Sr.

“I hope one day I’m able to,” he says.

McCaffrey has a pretty decent heritage of his own. His father Ed, who also played at Stanford, was an all-pro receiver with the Denver Broncos. His mother Lisa played soccer at Stanford. His uncle Billy McCaffrey was an All-American basketball player at Vanderbilt (after starting at Duke). The athletic ability extends throughout the family tree, including to his maternal grandfather, an Olympic silver medalist as a sprinter.

No one was surprised when McCaffrey starred in a variety of roles for his high-school team, leading it to four state championships and setting a state record for all-purpose yardage. He was used sparingly as a freshman at Stanford, but emerged this season to inject a serious jolt of big-play potential to the Cardinal’s ultra-physical brand of old-school football. At 6-foot and 201 pounds, McCaffrey runs with the physical style the Cardinal favors — “like a 235-pound running back,” Shaw said, so nothing has changed with the jumbo formations and the power running game. Well, except this:

“And then (he) runs with speed and quickness,” Shaw continues, “and then catches balls and returns balls. That’s something that’s truly special.”

Shaw says he expected McCaffrey “to be really, really good” this season, but adds: “I didn’t know he was gonna dominate four or five games. … I thought he was a year away from being a true dominant football player.”

McCaffrey’s performance against Cal is only the latest example. It was the fourth time he had at least 300 all-purpose yards in a game this season.

“He was phenomenal,” Shaw says. “Every time we needed something, he was the guy. That’s what big-time players do.”

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If he does it again against Notre Dame, the Cardinal might find themselves back in the Playoff conversation, if only at the fringes (they’d still need to win the Pac-12 championship and get some help elsewhere). And for McCaffrey, there might be a trip to New York ahead for the Heisman Trophy ceremony — and still more comparisons. Reggie Bush? Shaw sees the resemblance.

“That’s what it’s like,” Shaw says. “(McCaffrey is) a guy that can hurt you in so many different ways.”

Or let Kelly sum it up:

“Special, special player,” the Notre Dame coach says, “and deserving of all the accolades he’s gotten. So we’ve got our hands full there.”

So does everybody.

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