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Stanford’s McCaffrey breaks single-season all-purpose yardage record

Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders’ single-season all-purpose yardage record during Saturday’s Pac-12 championship game.
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Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders’s single-season all-purpose yardage record during Saturday’s Pac-12 championship game, a 41-22 Cardinal win over the USC Trojans.

McCaffrey surpassed the former Oklahoma State great’s mark of 3,250 total yards in a season on a two-yard run in the second quarter. It took him 13 games to set the mark, where it took Sanders just 11 games to get there in 1988.

McCaffrey, a sophomore who returns kicks and punts in addition to his offensive duties, finished with 461 all-purpose yards (207 rushing, 105 receiving, 120 kick return and 29 punt return). As it stands, he’s accumulated a new-record 3,496 all-purpose yards in 2015.

The son of former Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey also caught and ran for scores in the victory, throwing a touchdown pass to quarterback Kevin Hogan on a second-quarter first-half trick play for good measure.

​He was named the game’s MVP.

​Entering the game, McCaffrey was averaging 5.7 yards per carry with 1,640 yards and seven rushing touchdowns, had caught 37 passes for 435 yards and three touchdowns in addition to 922 kick return yards and 38 more on punt returns. He is one of three FBS players, including Sanders and former Western Kentucky running back Antonio Andrews, to ever total 3,000 all-purpose yards in one season.

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