TAKEAWAYStanford showed off what it can do offensively when M

Julia Vincent may have only been diving for six years, but the rising South Carolina junior already owns a pair of school records, earned All-American honors, and now she can add Olympian to her resume. Vincent will compete for her homeland of South Africa at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.It hasnt really hit me yet, Vincent said. I havent thought about it much because when I come to the pool every day, I dont think about what I am training for; I train to have a good meet. Im excited for it to happen. When I am putting on the gear and ready to go, that might be when it will actually hit me.To win a medal would be the most incredible honor in my life. I havent really thought about that. Im just hoping to have a good meet, and well see if it places me high enough.Vincent has already enjoyed an amazing year after earning All-America honors by finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships on the 1-meter board, and she placed sixth in 1-meter at the SEC Championships. She won the 3-meter diving competition at the 2016 South African Olympic Trials in April to secure her spot on the national team.That day at nationals was a very weird day for me, Vincent said. Ive never been as nervous as I was that day. Getting to the end, and knowing I had a good result and did what I had wanted to do was a surreal feeling. Ive never felt like that before, so it was good to have my family around me.Its everything that I wanted. I knew that I had to win. Ive wanted to win nationals before, but there was so much on the line because if I didnt win, I wouldnt go to the Olympics. I think that would be more nerve wracking, and I think the Olympics will just be fun.South Carolina head diving coach Todd Sherritt is coaching Vincent for what will be his fourth trip to the Olympics having been to Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.It doesnt get old, Sherritt said of coaching in the Olympics. I think Im just as excited as I have ever been with anybody to take Julia because of the way she trains, and she is fun to be around. She is super-talented. She has the physical talent to do it.Despite being the only diver competing for South Africa, and the only female member of the nations swimming and diving team, Vincent isnt putting any extra pressure on herself.I just want to hit every dive the way I was meant to hit it and the way Todd wants me to hit it, Vincent said. If I dont make the semifinal, but I have had a good meet and Im happy with my dives, I will count that as a success.Vincent is somewhat of a newcomer to diving as she grew up competing in other sports such as field hockey, track, and netball. She wasnt exposed to the sport until she went to high school.I did start a little later than most people in diving, Vincent said. I didnt really start thinking about being an Olympian until maybe four years ago, but more specifically it was really when I came here to South Carolina. I told Todd that I wanted to get to the Olympics and asked if he could help get me there.She has a really clear vision, Sherritt said. I think its her drive that has allowed her to catch up with a lot of people. You can out-train everybody, and you can train with everybody, but if you are a visionary, you can get ahead of everybody. I think thats really the key to her. She has a clear vision of what she wants to do with her diving.She really had to punch her way through to make the (national) team. There was nothing easy. She wasnt going to be denied it. It was a nail-biter at the trials. She had to hit her last dive, and she did it.Its that training she received at South Carolina that has helped her develop into an Olympic caliber diver.Just being able to be at a much better training facility with an incredible coach was a big part of it, Vincent said. Todd is an incredible coach. I wouldnt want to go without him. He is able to teach me everything about diving and what I need to do to fix my dives. A lot of it has to do with the amount of training I get to do here, and the amount of support I get from my teammates and coaches.I think she has improved in her head a lot, Sherritt said. Being able to stay focused is a big deal for her. Just believing in her head that she can do these things, and her ability to make corrections is huge. She has made amazing changes mechanically. Her mental vision has really grown since she has been here.When she is standing on the diving board, Vincent clears her thoughts and has one thing on her mind.I think a lot about how I can execute exactly what Todd wants me to execute, Vincent said. Most of the time I know whether I hit the dive once I hit the water. It just depends on the dive. Sometimes I will know as soon as I leave the board that its going to be a good one. Other times, Ill be pleasantly surprised when I come up.Shaking off a bad dive is a lot harder than moving on from a good dive. It depends on the situation. If the dive is not going to have a huge effect on where you are going to be placed, I just move on. The hardest is knowing you have to hit the dives you have left when you didnt hit the one before. It can be very difficult.While she is tremendously excited about her Olympic opportunity and will likely be a little nervous, Vincent has already competed against many who will be competing in Rio.Weve competed against each other at world championship meets and World Cups, Vincent said. Ive seen them dive, and I know the level I am going up against. It will be a little less intimidating because it wont really be a new field of divers. It will be good going in because I wont be as nervous.Its just a matter of time before she is one of the top divers in the world, Sherritt added. Theres no question about it. The judges love that person that comes out of nowhere. International judges really want to see style. So were doing that with her, and I think that combination with her power, quickness and explosiveness makes me really excited. Her personality really comes through in her diving.When she is not in the pool, Vincent is looking forward to checking out other competitions and sites in Rio.I want to experience the Olympic atmosphere as a whole instead of just swimming and diving, Vincent said. It will be nice to be able to go and support South Africa in other sports and watch other records be broken. I think I really want to watch some of the track events. I want to watch (Jamaican sprinter) Usain Bolt run. I want to go see as many sports as I can.That will likely include seeing some of her Gamecock teammates competing for their home countries as well, including swimmer Akaram Mahmoud, who will swim for Egypt.Thats probably the part I am most excited about because I get to watch them train every day, Vincent said. I know how much work they put in. I know what it means to them to be representing their countries.With the diving events normally held somewhat early in the Olympic Games, Vincent is also looking forward to taking in other sites when she is done competing.Luckily, I have been to Rio before so I know where I want to go again, Vincent said. Ill definitely explore more of the beaches and find more tourist attractions because it is such a beautiful place to be. I will probably go to the Christ the Redeemer again. Thats the massive statue in the middle of it all. Just to explore and see whats out there will be fun. Adidas Derek Stepan Jersey . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Adidas Oliver Ekman-Larsson Jersey . 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TUCSON, Ariz. -- Christian McCaffrey took the handoff up the middle, made a little juke and, with a burst of speed, raced past Arizonas 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 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 .Bryce Love chipped in 78 yards on 12 carries while giving McCaffrey a break and helped the Cardinal (5-3, 3-3 Pac-12) break out of scoring funk after entering Saturdays game 127th of 128 FBS teams in scoring at 17 points per game.This is the first week weve had them both healthy, Shaw said. This is what we envisioned all year and this is the first time weve been able to do it, and it looked pretty good.Arizona (2-6, 0-5) had its top two quarterbacks back for the first time since the season opener, yet continued to sputter offensively in its fifth straight loss.Brandon Dawkins started and threw for 116 yards, including a 38-yard TD pass to Trey Griffey. Dawkins also had 65 yards on 17 yards rushing on 17 carries. Anu Solomon replaced him in the third quarter and lasted just two series, finishing 0-for-3 passing.Just like receivers make mistakess, they dont always see when guys are open, Arizona running back Samajie Grant said.dddddddddddd We just have to rep it after practice. We have to stay more after practice.Part of it was a lack of running game. With Nick Wilson out for an extended period, Arizona was forced to use Grant, a converted receiver, as starting running back.Grant finished with 64 yards, but Arizona had just 170 yards on 44 carries and finished 286 total yards, 147 below its season average.We missed some things up front, Arizona guard Jacob Alsadek said. Samajie was out there running hard and we need to give him a better chance.THE TAKEAWAYStanford showed off what it can do offensively when McCaffrey is healthy. The Cardinal defense also held up against Arizonas quick-hitting attack, putting them within a game of becoming bowl eligible.The Wildcats were again plagued by defensive deficiencies and their receivers had a hard time getting open, often leaving Dawkins and Solomon no choice but to throw it away or take off running.CHRYSTS STARTShaw made the decision this week to replace fifth-year senior Ryan Burns with junior Keller Chryst at quarterback.Chryst made some good decisions at the line of scrimmage, picking up alignments and blitzes, and threw a pair of touchdown passes. He also missed a few passes that could have gone for big plays, finishing with 104 yards and an interception on 14-of-30 passing.First game as a starter, I get it, hes not going to be Johnny Unitas out there, Shaw said. Hes going to grow. The thing Keller can do is throw the ball down the field and he missed some guys out there.UP NEXTStanford hosts Oregon State next Saturday with a chance to become bowl eligible.Arizona plays at Washington State next Saturday in a game that should be filled with offense. ' ' '