Stanford's Christian McCaffrey finally looks like old self

Christian McCaffrey took the handoff up the middle, made a little juke and, with a burst of speed, raced past Arizona's flailing defenders.

This was the player Stanford had been missing the past few weeks.

McCaffrey returned to his tackle-eluding form, accounting for 225 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cardinal to a 34-10 victory over Arizona on Saturday night.

"We know that when Christian gets a crease, he does special things beyond the line of scrimmage," Stanford coach David Shaw said.

McCaffrey has had a difficult follow-up to his Heisman runner-up a year ago.

Good early in the season, he missed most of the second half against Washington State on Oct. 8 and did not play the following week against Notre Dame. McCaffrey returned against Colorado last week, finishing with 92 yards rushing on 21 carries.

The shifty junior had a jump in his step against the Wildcats, scoring on runs of 45 and 6 yards to finish with 169 yards on 23 carries. McCaffrey added four catches for 27 yards, including an 18-yard catch-and-run TD.

Two days before the College Football Playoff selection committee unveils its first rankings of the season, the AP top 25 provided a likely preview.

Alabama is No. 1, receiving all but one of the 61 first-place votes from the media panel. Michigan received a first-place vote. Both No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Washington won road games against ranked teams.

West Virginia and Baylor from the Big 12 were not so fortunate. The Mountaineers slipped to No. 14 after their first loss. The Bears dropped to 13th after losing to Texas.

• Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a broken leg. Lewerke came on late in Saturday's 32-23 loss to No. 2 Michigan, giving the Spartans a lift by throwing for 100 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt freshman has been primarily a backup this season.