Love escapes shadow to become Heisman finalist
STANFORD, Calif. — Bryce Love ran out of Christian McCaffrey’s shadow the same way he sprinted away from opposing defenses — with breathtaking speed that has carried him to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
After spending two years as an understudy, Love applied the lessons he learned watching McCaffrey set records and put his own spin on it in a season just as spectacular in its own way as McCaffrey was on the way to a Heisman runner-up finish in 2015.
“I was always in awe by a lot of things that he was doing,” Love said. “Obviously being the caliber of player he was it was good to sit back and learn the little things from him. How he approached everything, how he attacked everything was really amazing. How he prepared week in and week out, I was lucky to see the things he could do. I was lucky to learn from him.”
Love delivered his own awe-inspiring performances for Stanford to earn a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist alongside Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and last year’s winner, quarterback Lamar Jackson of Louisville.
Love established himself as a candidate early by rushing for 564 yards in back-to-back wins over UCLA and Arizona State. He kept adding to those numbers and leads all Power 5 running backs in yards rushing (1,973), yards per carry (8.3), and 100yard games (11), and also set an FBS record with 12 runs of at least 50 yards.
“It’s awesome to have somebody back there who will take advantage of the little creases that you give him and be able to do something special with the ball,” offensive lineman A.T. Hall said.
About the only thing that managed to slow Love down was a sprained ankle suffered Oct. 14 against Oregon that hampered him the rest of the season. Love missed one game against Oregon State and then played through the pain for the final five games. He still topped the 100-yard mark in his final four contests, including three against teams that finished the regular season in the top 15 of the AP poll, and helped the Cardinal make the Pac-12 title game where they lost to USC.
“He’s a tough human being, he loves to play the game, and he’s outstanding at it,” coach David Shaw said. “That being said, he’s outrushed a lot of football teams on one and a half ankles . ... That’s a combination of ability, toughness, heart, character, all those things rolled into one, and I have so much respect for who he is as a man as well as what he is as a football player.”