SportsCenter Highlight of the Night: Christian McCaffrey rushed for 206 yards and Barry Sanders added 97 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinal pulled away from the Beavers for a 42-24 victory. (1:57)

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- It was unclear whether Stanford senior quarterback Kevin Hogan would play in the Cardinal’s Friday night matchup with Oregon State.

And it was unclear which version of Oregon State true freshman quarterback Seth Collins would come to play.

At the end of the day, Hogan did play, and an improved and impressive Collins did, as well, but the Cardinal walked away with their second Pac-12 victory of the season with a 42-24 win over Oregon State.

What the win means for Stanford: The Cardinal pick up their second Pac-12 victory and their first in the Pac-12 North. Pros: For the second week in a row, the Cardinal’s run game looked strong enough to make up for the lags here and there in the pass game. Stanford improved on its 195-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance against USC with a 325-yard, four-touchdown rushing performance against the Beavers. Cons: The Stanford defensive line continues to be the walking wounded; defensive end Aziz Shittu left the game in the second quarter, while Brennan Scarlett wasn’t seen after the first quarter and wasn’t spotted on the sideline during the second half of the game.

What the loss means for Oregon State: There’s no such thing as a moral victory in college football, but there was a lot to like about the Beavers in this loss. Seth Collins continues to have fewer and fewer freshman moments in each game he plays (though when he does look like a freshman, he looks very much like a freshman), and a few of the throws he made against Stanford were really impressive. Ryan Nall had a breakout performance at H-back, scoring his first career TD. Wide receiver Jordan Villamin made a “How did he catch that?” touchdown grab. Defensive back Cyril Noland-Lewis recorded his first career interception. It might not have been enough (or, consistent enough) to win, but there was a lot to like.

The game turned ... in the third quarter. After the Beavers put up a 218-yard first half and trailed the Cardinal by just four, the Stanford defense buckled down and held the Oregon State offense scoreless in the third quarter. And with its defense doing work, Stanford’s offense held up its end of the bargain, racking up 14 points and 173 yards of offense (to the Beavers’ 41 yards -- including just two rushing yards). The Cardinal extended their four-point halftime lead to a comfortable 18-point cushion heading into the game’s final quarter. Though Stanford did cough up a turnover late in the third quarter and allowed an early fourth-quarter score, it was the third quarter that made the difference in the game for the Cardinal.

Game ball goes to: Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey. With the Cardinal wanting to take a bit of pressure off Hogan and his ankle, they relied heavily on the run game (read: McCaffrey) to do the heavy lifting. He finished with a career-high 206 yards on a career-high 30 carries. His statistics from this one game rival his statistics from his entire freshman season: 300 yards on 42 carries. And though it was Barry Sanders and Remound Wright who tallied two rushing touchdowns a piece, it was McCaffrey who put those players and the offense in a position to do so.