The University of Utah football team was only trailing Stanford by three points, then a 68-yard Cardinal rushing touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter by running back Bryce Love pushed the Utes behind by 10 points. Although the Utes fought back with the game clock quickly winding down, they fell 23-20 to earn their first loss of the season.
“Credit to Stanford. They were the better team tonight,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “They played better and so they won the game. They deserved to win. We didn’t do enough good things to win that game.”
Troy Williams got the start in place of an injured Tyler Huntley, and he went 20-of-39 for 238 yards in the air plus a touchdown.
“I just got to play better, bottom line,” Willams said. “That’s just what it is. … I know probably everyone hates me right now, but it’s just a part of the game. I just got to play better.”
On the ground, Zack Moss led the way with 15 carries for 79 yards, and he found the end zone once. Leading Utah in receiving yards was Darren Carrington II with seven catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. Eleven tackles belonged to Sunia Tauteoli while Chase Hansen and Kavika Luafatasaga both contributed seven tackles.
Although Stanford took an early 3-0 lead after putting the ball through the uprights, Utah found the end zone first. On the Utes’ second possession of the night, Zack Moss got fans on their feet. After a 7-yard catch, he rushed for 19 yards before running the ball in for a 2-yard touchdown — Utah’s lone touchdown of the first half.
It wasn’t just a winning streak that was broken on Saturday night, Matt Gay’s perfect year came to an end when he missed his first field goal of the season — a 50-yard attempt. While kicking, Gay got hit, and he fell to the ground. After the scare though, he did play for the remainder of the game.
It took until the second quarter for the Cardinal to put up its own touchdown. After tallying five plays for 71 yards, the visitors jumped ahead, 10-7.
Despite Moss’s 16-yard run for a first down and Raelon Singleton’s 36-yard catch, Utah couldn’t punch it in. The field goal unit was sent in, and Gay tied the game at 10 with a 30-yard field goal. Going into the locker rooms at the half, Stanford had a 13-10 edge following a late field goal in the second quarter.
Utah had a rough start to the second half of the game, but Marquise Blair, who was forced to sit out the first half due to a targeting call against Arizona, gave the team sparks here and there. Field goals were the only points both teams were able to muster in the third quarter, and it remained a three point game when the quarter came to a close, 16-13, in favor of Stanford.
In the fourth quarter, once Love broke loose only to do what Love does best, it was Carrington who brought the Utes their final points of the night after catching an 18-yard pass with 2:51 left to play.
The loss on Homecoming night was a tough one to handle for the home team that, heading into the match, was the South division leader. But Whittingham expressed that this night can’t hinder them moving forward.
“It’s a marathon. There’s a lot of football, and so player’s got to keep that in mind,” Whittingham said. “We got to keep working. We got to keep fighting, which they will. [There is] a lot of leadership in that locker room. My gut is they’ll bounce back and play well.”
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