Runner developing as breakaway threat
Until Saturday, it had been a tough several weeks for Stanford’s Bryce Love.
“Sweet Feet” had missed the opener against Kansas State because of a lower-leg injury, and he wasn’t happy about it.
Those feet were churning against USC as he rushed 11 times for 51 yards and ignited one scoring drive with a 16-yard run. He played 14 snaps.
“I thought he looked like the old Bryce,” running backs coach Lance Taylor said. “He had the extra gear, and he almost broke a couple.”
In the fourth quarter, he narrowly missed breaking free on what almost certainly would have been an 81-yard TD run. He went 12 yards, but the last USC tackler got him. Love pounded the grass with his fist in frustration.
“The O-line did a good job, and the hole opened up,” Love said. Tight end Dalton Schultz “had a great block on that play. We were just one guy away.” On the sideline, Taylor already had his hands in the touchdown signal when Love went down.
It was a promising start to what the No. 7 Cardinal hope will be a big year for the speedster. They want to give defenses another threat to consider besides Christian McCaffrey. That will be the case Saturday when they play UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
“It was awesome” to have him back, McCaffrey said. “He’s a huge complement to me and our offense.”
Like other Stanford players, Love is under orders from coaches not to discuss the precise nature of injuries. He said his occurred during a tackling drill in the second week of training camp.
Even now, head coach David Shaw said, “We’ve limited his reps a little bit, but that’s mainly precautionary. He doesn’t have the endurance built up just yet.”
Love insists he was at 100 percent a few weeks ago, but he agreed it was wise “to go through the precautions to make sure everything was right.”
Finally getting to play “felt great,” he said. “I was anxious to get out there and play with the boys and have fun.”
When he had to watch the Kansas State game from the sideline, “we were probably as frustrated as he was,” Taylor said, “because he was such a big part of what we wanted to do.”
Shaw and offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren are eager to play McCaffrey and Love in the backfield at the same time or to put one of them at wide receiver. A fake handoff to Love by quarterback Ryan Burns helped set up McCaffrey’s 56-yard touchdown pass reception.
There has been a lively debate among the Cardinal as to who their fastest player is. Shaw said this week that it’s Michael Rector, based on his 4.29 40-yard time in the spring.
Rector, McCaffrey, Love and backup wide receiver Isaiah BrandtSims have discussed a four-man race. “I would love that,” McCaffrey said. “I think it would be a good little race.”
According to Love, he ran a 4.32 “or something like that” in the spring, but when asked who would win such a race, he said, “I feel it’s Bryce Love every time.”
He said he has learned a lot from watching McCaffrey, “from handling success to footballrelated things, like route running. Learning from somebody who has a similar skill set is perfect for me. There’s no better player to learn from in the country.”