Christian McCaffrey breaks Barry Sanders' NCAA record for all-purpose yards in a season
Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey has broken Barry Sanders’ single-season record for all-purpose yards.
On Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in the Pac-12 championship game, McCaffrey’s 3-yard rush in the second quarter pushed him ahead of Sanders’ 3,250-yard mark. Sanders set the record in 11 games during his 1988 Heisman Trophy-winning season for Oklahoma State in which he averaged 237.5 rushing yards per game.
"That's a guy I had posters on my wall of growing up," McCaffrey said. "Even to be mentioned in the same category is definitely an honor."
Coming into Saturday’s game, McCaffrey had 3,035 all-purpose yards through 12 contests. The sophomore sensation added to that number with an absolutely sensational performance in Stanford's 41-22 victory over USC.
McCaffrey gained 461 all-purpose yards — the fifth-highest total in the history of college football. He had 207 rushing yards, 105 receiving yards, 120 kick return yards and 29 punt return yards. He also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, in addition to scoring rushing and receiving touchdowns.
For his efforts, McCaffrey was named the Pac-12 Championship game MVP. McCaffrey currently has 3,496 all-purpose yards for the season.