STANFORD – The Pac-12’s leading rusher will face a defense coming off a stellar performance when seventh-ranked Stanford meets UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl in its first road game of the season.

Stanford tailback Christian McCaffrey leads the Pac-12 with an average of 149 yards per game. UCLA, meanwhile, is coming off a 17-14 win over BYU last week in which the Bruins allowed more rushing attempts (25) than rushing yards (23).

“It’ll be a challenge for us to run the ball efficiently, and that’s our goal,” Cardinal coach David Shaw said. “I don’t care how many guys they have in the box – we want to run the ball efficiently so we can open up the passing game.”

With McCaffrey handling the bulk of the offensive workload, Stanford (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) has done that very well so far. Not only is McCaffrey one of just two Pac-12 rushers with more than 100 yards per game – Oregon’s Royce Freeman is the other – he ranks among the conference’s top receivers, averaging 53 yards on five catches.

Although the Cardinal ranks last in the Pac-12 in passing offense, it has used its passing game effectively enough to keep defenses from loading up too much against the run.

Still, McCaffrey hasn’t gone up against a defense like UCLA’s. With 6-foot-3, 325-pound tackle Eddie Vanderdoes paving the way inside, four Bruins – linebackers Jayon Brown and Kenny Young and linemen Rick Wade and Takkarist McKinley – recorded sacks against BYU.

Brown is also among the Pac-12’s leading tacklers with 7.7 per game.

“They’ve got some big, physical men up front,” Shaw said. “They’ve got size on the inside and length and athleticism on the outside.”

McCaffrey, for one, isn’t taking UCLA lightly.

“They have an incredible defense,” the Heisman Trophy candidate said. “They’re athletic, they play hard and they have a disciplined secondary.

“It’ll be a challenge, but we’re up for it.”

• Stanford’s defense will face its biggest early-season test against UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. The sophomore ranks among the national leaders in completions and yards per game (25 and 305.7, respectively).

The key to stopping Rosen, Shaw said, is for Stanford’s defensive backs to remain disciplined.

“Josh is the type of quarterback who can look left, then turn right and throw a strike,” Shaw said. “He’s got a good arm and can throw late and deep. Our guys have got to stay in their zone and not get fooled.”

The coach is happy with what he’s seen from his secondary so far – Alijah Holder in particular. The junior cornerback leads the Pac-12 with five pass break-ups.

“As a unit, they’re playing very well, (especially since) we’re rolling a lot of guys through,” Shaw said. “We’re not where we need to be by any means – we’ve got a lot of young guys who are still learning what they’ve got to do and how to do it. But as a whole, the unit is playing very well.”

• Shaw expects defensive lineman Harrison Phillips to be back in the lineup on Saturday. The junior missed the USC game with a knee injury.

“He’s made a significant jump the past couple of days,” Shaw said. “He did some good stuff on the field yesterday. Hopefully that continues.”

• Shaw hopes to get backup quarterback Keller Chryst some playing time against UCLA. The coach had hoped to play Chryst against USC as well, but “it just didn’t happen.”

Perhaps that’s because fifth-year senior Ryan Burns continues to make strides in the starting role.

“He’s been very effective,” Shaw said. “He’s scrambled a couple of times for first downs, which was huge. He missed a couple of deep balls in the last game, but he also made a couple.”

• Asked who the Cardinal’s fastest player was between himself, fellow running back Bryce Love, and wide receivers Michael Rector and Isaiah Brandt-Sims, McCaffrey noted that Rector has the team’s fastest 40-yard dash time.

However, McCaffrey would love to settle the issue head-to-head.

“It would be a good little race,” he said, flashing a smile.

• Before last week’s win over USC, senior strong safety Dallas Lloyd said he saw placekicker Conrad Ukropina kick a 60-yard field goal in Hawaii over the summer.

“If I didn’t see it, it didn’t happen,” Shaw said.

Still, the coach would consider allowing Ukropina to attempt a field goal from that range if he had to.

“He’s been good from the mid-50s (in practice),” Shaw said. “If the game is on the line, I don’t mind stretching that. From the low to mid-50s, he’s been very consistent.”

Ukropina appreciates his coach’s faith, and hopes he doesn’t let Shaw down if he’s called on to kick it that far.

“I don’t really have that kind of range,” the fifth-year senior said. “I just have someone hold the ball and kick it as far and straight as I can.”

Speaking of holding the ball, Ukropina credited Lloyd, his holder, and junior C.J. Keller, his long snapper, with helping him break Stanford’s school record for consecutive extra points last Saturday.

“I know they’re going to put it on the money every time,” Ukropina said.