San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Utes romp, deal Cardinal a blow in Pac-12 North
Stanford wore black uniforms Saturday night. Usually, it wins in black. This time the color reflected the Cardinal’s mood afterward.
The Cardinal won’t be ranked No. 14 for long following their 40-21 loss to Utah, which ended Stanford’s 11-game home winning streak. The loss dealt the Cardinal a severe blow to their hopes of repeating their Pac-12 North title.
Zack Moss rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns, Jaylon Johnson had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Matt Gay kicked four field goals for the Utes (3-2, 1-2 Pac-12).
Utah, which is unbeaten in four appearances at Stanford Stadium, had 199 yards passing from quarterback Tyler Huntley, who connected on 17 of 21 attempts.
Missing tailback Bryce Love, Stanford (4-2, 2-1) was punchless on the ground, getting just 42 yards rushing, compared with 222 for Utah. Quarterback K.J. Costello passed for 379 yards and a touchdown but threw two interceptions and
Stanford schedule
Date
Opponent Aug. 31 San Diego St. Sept.8 USC
Sept. 15 UC Davis Sept. 22 at Oregon Sept. 29 at N. Dame Oct. 6 Utah
Oct. 18-y at Arizona St. Oct. 27 Washington St. Nov. 3 at Wash. Nov. 10 Oregon St. Nov. 17 at Cal
Nov. 24 at UCLA
y - Thursday Time/ Result W, 31-10 W, 17-3 W, 30-10 W, 38-31 L, 38-17 L, 40-21 6 p.m. TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
lost a fumble.
The Cardinal were without Love for the second time this year. He missed the UC Davis game with an undisclosed injury and was out Saturday night as a result of injuring his left ankle a week earlier at Notre Dame.
It’s the same ankle that caused him to miss a game last season and hampered him over the last half of the season. Redshirt sophomore Trevor Speights made his first career start in his place.
Huntley, shaking off a sack try by linebacker Gabe Reid, lofted a 57-yard touchdown pass to Samson Nacua for a 37-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Following a fumble by Costello that was recovered by Corrion Ballard, Gay kicked a 37-yard field goal.
Utah had a 24-7 lead at the half though the Cardinal led 210-207 in yardage.
Gay’s second field goal of the night, a 49-yarder early in the third quarter, made it 27-7.
Cameron Scarlett’s 1-yard touchdown leap cut the Utes’ lead to 27-14. Costello hit tight end Kaden Smith for 22 and 21 yards on the 77-yard drive. Smith finished with eight catches for 120 yards.
Costello made it 27-21 just eight minutes later when he connected with freshman Michael Wilson on a 26-yard touchdown pass, the first score of Wilson’s college career. Wilson easily beat cornerback Julian Blackmon.
The Utes scored first on a 7-yard run by Moss on a pitch from Huntley. The 80-yard drive was kept alive by a running-into-the-kicker penalty on Stanford’s Jovan Swann.
Moss limped off the field early in the drive but returned to get his fifth rushing touchdown of the season two plays after Huntley’s 12-yard pass to Britain Covey.
The Cardinal drove 66 yards to the Utah 9, only to have cornerback Johnson pick off an underthrown pass by Costello and return it 100 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
To make matters worse, on the next series Costello — under heavy pressure — threw the ball directly to Utah tackle Hauati Pututau, who returned the interception 10 yards.
The Utes rolled 72 yards and scored on a 35-yard touchdown run by Moss, opening a 21-0 lead with just under three minutes left in the first half.
The 21-0 deficit was the largest the Cardinal have faced at home since a 42-16 defeat to Washington State in 2016.
Stanford finally got on the board on a 2-yard touchdown run by Speights with 24 seconds left in the half.
Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle. com Twitter: @tomg fitzgerald