Christian McCaffrey ’18 and the San Francisco 49ers won in gritty fashion against the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, to stay undefeated through five weeks. In a narrow 32-29 final, McCaffrey’s single score made the difference, keeping the 49ers among only two unbeaten teams in the NFL. 

It was a quieter week for Stanford football alumni, with Bobby Okereke ’18 and Brycen Tremayne ’22 having the first eligible bye week of the season. The following alumni, however, still made an impact across the league, including Dalton Schultz ’18 who caught his first win. 

Standout performances

Christian McCaffrey ’18 (RB, San Francisco 49ers) – McCaffrey ran 11 times for 68 yards and a touchdown and caught all three of his targets for 15 more in the win over Seattle. His score came one play after a Malik Mustapha fumble recovery, an 11-yard run that put San Francisco up 14-10 in the second quarter. McCaffrey has five rushing touchdowns through five games, and the 49ers now have two early wins against NFC West rivals in one of the league’s toughest divisions.

Elijah Higgins ’23 (TE, Arizona Cardinals) – Higgins caught all three passes thrown his way for 57 yards in a 45-21 loss to the Detroit Lions. His 38-yard catch on the first play of the second half was Arizona’s longest play of the day. Arizona fell to 1-4.

Justin Reid ’19 (S, New Orleans Saints) – Reid led the Saints with 10 tackles in a 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the league’s other unbeaten team. The 10 tackles are his most in a game this season. The Saints fell to 1-4.

Notable contributions

Elic Ayomanor ’26 (WR, Tennessee Titans) – one catch for 17 yards. Ayomanor and the Titans are still searching for their first win of the season.

Dalton Schultz ’18 (TE, Houston Texans) – three catches for 30 yards in a 26-3 win at Tennessee for Houston’s first win of the season. Two of his catches – one for seven and the other for 14 yards – were made on the Texans’ first scoring drive.

Michael Wilson ’21 M.A. ’22 (WR, Arizona Cardinals) – four catches for 30 yards on seven targets against Detroit, a quiet day after he drew 30 targets over the previous two weeks.