At the end of Tuesday’s practice, The Stanford Daily’s Nicholas Radoff spoke with freshman running back Christian McCaffrey and sophomore tight end Austin Hooper about Saturday’s Big Game.
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The Stanford Daily (TSD): Both your parents were athletes here, so do you have any expectations or memories of the Big Game?
Christian McCaffrey (CM): It’s very clear here there is a reason it’s called the Big Game; there’s a lot of hype around it, but right now I think our guys are just focused on what we can do in practice to prepare and be as confident as we can going in.
TSD: Are you excited to play in your first Big Game?
CM: Very excited. Excited is definitely an understatement. I think we all are pretty excited; it means a lot.
TSD: Huge play in the first quarter against Utah on the misdirection pitch out; can you run us through the play real quick?
CM: It was fourth-and-1. In recent games, we lined two backs up in the backfield, with a lead blocker right behind the lineman and kind of ran a little boom play. We tried to just disguise that, so that we could toss it out to me and use my speed and allow me to do as much as I can with it.
TSD: Coach Shaw talked about you getting a better handle on the offense each week and using you more as you do. Do you feel like you can be fully integrated at this point?
CM: Definitely. The older guys and the coaches have done a great job of getting me integrated. They do such a good job of helping me out whenever I have questions. At this point, I think we’re all dialed in.
TSD: Is it tough to get ahold of the playbook from both a receiver perspective and a running back perspective?
CM: It’s difficult at first, but once you kind of get a hold of it, it’s muscle memory.
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TSD: You had a big fumble recovery in the fourth quarter (9:48) to keep the drive alive; can you take us through the play real quick?
Austin Hooper (AH): Luckily, when the ball was ripped out, by some miracle, it just rolled to me; I reached out and grabbed it as it rolled out from the center of the pile. Just tried to show the refs that I had it. It was a really lucky bounce. I saw it and I was just glad I could put a grip on it, cover it up for the team.
TSD: So you are from the East Bay. Do you have any history with the Big Game, or have you ever been to it before coming to Stanford?
AH: I’ve never physically been to the Big Game, but I have family from both schools, so around this time, it’s a lot fun. I have half the family going for Cal and half going for Stanford, but all of them will be rooting for their family member, [even if it’s not] for Stanford. It’s going to be a lot of fun, a lot of family pulling for both schools. It’s going to be a good time, a good homecoming.
TSD: Are you excited about this group of tight ends that has come together with so much talent on this team?
AH: I’m really excited about Greg Taboada, Eric Cotton and even though he’s young, Dalton Schultz; he’s been a great contributor. Charlie Hopkins has been a great mentor and teacher for all of us younger guys. Individually, this position group can do a lot of different things, and collectively, it adds up to a lot. I’m really excited about where we’re headed in the future.
TSD: How has Dalton Schultz been performing?
AH: With him being redshirted, all we can see is him in practice, but he’s been doing really well. He’s picked up the playbook really quick, actually a lot faster than I did in my go around, so he’s definitely doing a lot of good things. He’s just gotta keep it up.
TSD: You were recruited as both a tight end and a defensive end coming out of high school. Any chance we’ll see you take some defensive reps?
AH: Coach Anderson jokingly mentioned it to me that I could play a bit of outside linebacker, but other than that one instance, it’s been pretty much all offense.
Contact Nicholas Radoff at nradoff ‘at’ stanford.edu.