Stanford dominated Iowa in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 2016, winning the game 46-16 after Christian McCaffrey dominated for the Cardinal with a record performance. Stanford went up big early, scoring 21 points in the first quarter and Iowa could not close the gap.
McCaffrey opened things up on his first touch of the game, going for 75-yards and a touchdown and that was just the start of his fantastic Rose Bowl performance. McCaffrey, who many felt had a strong Heisman resume behind Derrick Henry, put up over 300 all-purpose yards in the game, setting a record for the Rose Bowl. McCaffrey had a receiving touchdown and a punt return touchdown in the game as Stanford blew past Iowa.
Kevin Hogan had a strong game for Stanford in his final performance for the team, throwing for 223 yards three touchdowns in the win. McCaffrey has been doing it all for Stanford this season and he showed why in the Rose Bowl, putting up 172 yards rushing, 105 yards receiving and 91 on kick returns, setting a record for the bowl game. The Rose Bowl matchup was as close to a playoff game out of the CFP that college football could get, as Stanford and Iowa were the first two teams out of the final four.
The Iowa defense had been one of the best in the nation all season, but McCaffrey made the team pay right away, taking the first play 75-yards for an opening touchdown. Stanford did not allow Iowa to score until the third quarter and by that point the game was completely out of hand. Iowa lost their final two games of the season after going 12-0 to start and that was a big change from how the season went, as the team never trailed by more than seven points in any game during the season, according to ESPN.