Already dealing with star tailback Bryce Love sitting out due to injury, No. 14 Stanford found themselves dealing with something else: the good version of Utah that many thought we’d be seeing a lot more of this season.
The Utes used a pair of turnovers to take a shocking 24-7 lead into the break at halftime and give the Cardinal everything they could handle in a critical game for both team in the Pac-12 standings.
Zach Moss powered the way offensively for the visitors, rushing for 76 yards and two scores, the latter of which silenced whatever home crowd there was with a 35-yard scamper just before the break. That 72-yard touchdown drive only came about as a result of a Hauati Pututau interception, with the defensive lineman snagging the ball in midair and coming down with the turnover.
Teammate Jaylon Johnson had the big man beat though, picking off a pass right on the goal line and weaving his way to a remarkable 100-yard pick-six that sent his sideline jumping. It was one of the longest plays of the season for any team and was just the kind of sign that indicated that it could be a long game for the ranked team in this one.
Quarterback Tyler Huntley was also looking sharp for Utah, throwing for 83 yards on 8-of-10 passing.
The two interceptions were both thrown by K.J. Costello on ill-advised throws. It certainly seemed as though he was pressing early on trying to make up for the loss of Love but the signal-caller did rack up 187 yards through the air and appeared to get things going with a late drive just before the clock ran out. Trevor Speights was a pleasant surprise in the backfield with 19 yards rushing and a touchdown that made the score a little more manageable.
The Utes did blow a fourth quarter lead last week at Washington State and you can bet Kyle Whittingham will be reminding his team of that in the locker room even though they get the ball back to start the third quarter. Stanford is by no means out of this one but they definitely took an early punch to the gut with those turnovers and will need another big comeback to pull out a Pac-12 win.