Palo Alto, CA – The Utah Utes (3-2, 1-2) brought down the No. 14 Stanford Cardinal (4-2, 2-1), 40-21, on Saturday, Oct. 6, ending their two-game losing streak and pushing the Utes’ record at Stanford Stadium to 4-0.
The Utes capitalized on their opportunities in this one with 17 points coming off four forced turnovers on the night, including a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by sophomore corner Jaylon Johnson (1).
Despite a slow start in the first quarter, Utah showed excellent balance offensively throughout the game and made enough big plays defensively to survive and snap a three-year, six-game skid against Top 25 opponents.
Junior quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) finished with 199 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-21 passing, along with 23 yards on the ground.
Leading the way on the ground, however, was Zack Moss (2), who totaled 160 yards and two scores on 20 attempts, giving him three 100-yard games so far this season.
Despite the costly mistakes and lacking star senior Bryce Love (20), the Cardinal pushed for a comeback in the second half.
Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello (3) would end with over 380 yards passing and a touchdown, brought in by true freshman Michael Wilson (4) to make it 27-21 with less than two minutes remaining in the third.
But with the help of placekicker Matt Gay (97), who went 4-4 on field goal tries with 16 total points, the Utes pulled away to hand the Cardinal their second consecutive loss and snap their 11-game home winning streak.
Utah receiving core also played a big role in the game with Britain Covey (18) and Samson Nacua (45) each eclipsing 70 yards, and Nacua bringing in his second career touchdown catch and first of the season.
The Cardinal move into their bye week next before heading down to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils (3-3, 1-2) for a Thursday night match-up on October 18.
The Utes return home this week to take on the Arizona Wildcats (3-3, 2-1) Friday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
