Surge puts Stanford in position to make run at playoffs

Recommended Video:

Stanford is one of maybe a dozen teams that has to be considered a serious threat to make the four-team College Football Playoff.

As Cardinal head coach David Shaw said late Saturday night, “There’s no one true dominant team in college football.”

Stanford (6-1, 5-0 Pac-12) had just won its sixth straight game in convincing fashion, beating Washington 31-14.

The Cardinal, who jumped from 10th to eighth in the AP poll, play surprising Washington State in the Palouse on Saturday night. If they win, they’ll be in a commanding position in the Pac-12 North before the playoff selection committee’s first rankings are revealed Nov. 3.

The Cardinal had another magnificent performance by Christian McCaffrey, who had 300 all-purpose yards, increasing his nation-leading average to 259.7 — 40 yards better than his nearest competitor, San Jose State’s Tyler Ervin (219.5).

Kevin Hogan passed for 290 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense shut down the anemic UW offense.

It takes some breaks to have a banner season, and Stanford has had three significant ones.

Washington’s K.J. Carta-Samuels made his first college start Saturday night against Stanford, which limited the Bellarmine Prep alum to 118 yards passing. Washington’s K.J. Carta-Samuels made his first college start Saturday night against Stanford, which limited the Bellarmine Prep alum to 118 yards passing. Photo: Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images Photo: Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Surge puts Stanford in position to make run at playoffs 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

First, it has been relatively free of injuries. The main one was defensive tackle Harrison Phillips’ torn ACL in the opener. Inside linebacker Noor Davis has yet to play this year because of a lower leg injury, although he has returned to practice. Outside linebacker Kevin Anderson missed his fourth straight game with what is believed to be a pectoral injury.

Hogan has been somewhat hampered the past four games with a sprained ankle. That’s about it for the regulars. Most other teams have had numerous significant injuries. See UCLA for an example of the other side of the coin.

Second, Stanford has played the past three games at home and will get Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame at home to finish the regular season. If the Cardinal continue to win, the game against the Irish could be a virtual elimination game for the playoff. The Pac-12 title game could be, too, and that will be practically a home game at Levi’s Stadium.

Third, in nearly every game, Stanford has faced a quarterback with very little experience. Four of them had no previous starts (see chart), including Washington’s K.J. Carta-Samuels, who replaced injured starter Jake Browning. The Bellarmine High alum previously had attempted just three passes. Predictably, he had a hard time against the sound Stanford defense.

Meanwhile, Hogan is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country. There is much more to football success than quarterback play, but it’s by far the most important position in the offense.

All that said, the Cardinal could be outdoing their Rose Bowl teams of 2012 and ’13, McCaffrey in particular. His latest show came before a Reunion Homecoming crowd of 50,424 and a national TV audience. Against the top defense in the league, he rushed for 109 yards on 23 carries and caught five passes for 112 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown.

“I’m at the point where I don’t know what else I can say, other than: ‘Watch him. Just watch him,’” Shaw said. “He’s so quick, so explosive. The little guy never gets tired.”

By the time Stanford mounted a 31-7 lead, the Huskies had just four first downs and 141 total yards.

Linebacker Blake Martinez, who had a game-high 10 tackles, said, “Everyone was talking about them all week: ‘All right, (best) Pac-12 offense goes against best Pac-12 defense.’ And we’re like, ‘Hey, what about us?’ So we went out there with a chip on our shoulders, and I think we proved a big thing.”

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald

The green factor

Except for USC’s Cody Kessler, Stanford has faced a series of inexperienced quarterbacks.

QB, school Previous starts How he did Outcome Clayton Thorson, N’western 0 Fair — ran 42 yards for game’s only TD Northwestern, 16-6 Bo Schneider, Cent. Florida* 0 Struggled — 7-for-19, 46 yards; 1 INT Stanford, 31-7 Seth Collins, Oregon State 3 Fair — 20-for-36, 275 yds; ran for 1 yd-TD Stanford, 42-24 Jerrard Randall, Arizona 0 Struggled — 15-for-28, 178 yds Stanford, 55-17 Josh Rosen, UCLA 5 Well — 22-for-42, 326 yds, 3 TDs, 2 INT Stanford, 56-35 K.J. Carta-Samuels 0 Struggled — 9-for-21, 118 yds; had 7-yd TD run Stanford, 31-14

* Replacement for starter Justin Holman, who was injured on UCF’s third play from scrimmage.