STANFORD, Calif. - As advertised, Saturday night's visit to Salt Lake City was a slugfest. Stanford was the last team standing, handing previously unbeaten and No. 20 Utah its first defeat of the season.
This was not a game about style points. It matched the Cardinal power running game against the top rushing defense in the Pac-12. The Utes blinked first, and Stanford emerged with a 23-20 victory at sold out Rice-Eceles Stadium, its first road win against a top 20 opponent since 2015, when the Cardinal upset No. 6 USC, 41-31.
"It was like a heavyweight fight," said David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. "We knew it was going to be a war in the trenches and it was."
Winning for the third straight week, No. 23 Stanford (4-2, 3-1 Pac-12) got a stellar performance from its defense and just enough plays from its offense to end a three-game losing streak against the Utes (4-1, 1-1). The outcome was in doubt until the final minute, when sophomore tight end Kaden Smith corralled an onside kick.
While most of the statistics favored the Utes -- who had a bye the previous week -- including time of possession (32:37 to 27:33), first downs (25-14) and offensive plays (73-55), two did not. The Cardinal produced two fourth-quarter takeaways and didn't turn the ball over.
After being bottled up most of the night by a physical and stacked Utah defense, junior running back Bryce Love busted a 68-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter and muscled for a game-high 152 yards on 20 carries. He earned every inch.
"You look at their personnel, and it looks like an NFL defense," Shaw said. "They have big guys all over the place. They can all hit. They can all tackle. We knew with enough opportunities Bryce was going to break one, and he did."
The Utes often positioned eight and nine defenders within five yards of the line of scrimmage and practically dared Stanford to throw. Love, who averaged a NCAA-leading 217.6 yards per game coming in, retained a sizable lead despite five rushing attempts for losses.
"We're really big on grinding it out for however long it takes," Love said. "You're going to have days when things aren't going to open up. Sometimes, especially against a good team like Utah, you're going to have to get nitty and gritty and really fight."
And that's what the Cardinal did. Utah had limited foes to 87 yards rushing entering the game, but Stanford compiled 196.
"We're getting better and better on the offensive line," said Shaw.
Love now has 1,240 yards on the season, more than 250 ahead of his closest pursuer. He also tops the country in yards per game (206.7) and yards per carry (10.51), the latter by nearly two yards. Love ranks third in all-purpose yards (209.83).
For the eighth consecutive game, he reeled off a run at least 50 yards. Love has eclipsed 100 yards and scored a touchdown in eight straight contests.
Food for thought: Love's career touchdowns are 93, 47, 48, 7, 56, 50, 49, 10, 75, 51, 53, 69, 61, 43, 59 and 68 yards. He's also chalked up 14 runs of 40 or more yards.
After missing the Arizona State game due to injury, senior Keller Chryst reclaimed his starting quarterback spot and shared time with sophomore K.J. Costello. Each contributed, with Chryst leading all scoring drives.
"Both played pretty well," Shaw said. "Give them about a B-minus. Both made some big throws and got some big gains in crunch time situations. We'll keep pushing them to be at their best every single play."
Chryst completed 7 of 14 passes for 106 yards and rushed for 23 on four carries, while Costello hit 6 of 10 attempts for 82 yards and ran for 19.
After intercepting two passes last week against Arizona State, junior Justin Reid added another at Utah and now has five on the season, tied for the most in FBS. Once again, he was all over the field and made a heads-up play in the fourth quarter by catching a Jake Bailey punt at the Utah 5 to pin the Utes.
"I don't know if there's another safety playing at his level," Shaw said. "It's just not pure athletic ability. It's desire."
Reid finished with a team-high seven tackles, while inside linebacker Jordan Perez and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips added six.
The 25-second play clock was inoperable during Saturday's game.
"I give the officials a lot of credit," Shaw said. "They communicated with both sides and it ended up being a non-issue."
Host Oregon (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) lost to No. 11 Washington State (6-0, 3-0), 33-10 on Saturday. The Cougar defense snapped the Ducks' FBS-best streak of scoring 20 or more points per game at 47.
The Oregon game marks the first of five for Stanford against North Division opponents. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. PT at Stanford Stadium and the game will be televised by FS1.
The Ducks own a 47-32-1 advantage in the series that began in 1900. However, the Cardinal has won three of the last five meetings, including a 52-27 win last season in Eugene. In his third start, Chryst threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Christian McCaffrey rushed for 135 yards and three scores.
Oregon is dealing with injuries at quarterback. Starter Justin Herbert is out with a broken collarbone, while redshirt senior Taylor Alie was also sidelined against the Cougars. True freshman Braxton Burmeister went the distance, completing 15 of 27 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown, and was intercepted twice.
Oregon's top offensive threat is Royce Freeman, who ranks 12th nationally in rushing with 654 yards and has scored 10 touchdowns.
The second installment of Cardinal Live, featuring a recap of the Utah game and a look ahead to Oregon with Shaw, can be seen Sunday at 5 p.m. PT. Host Scott Reiss will talk to him on the official Facebook page of Stanford football free of charge and commercial free. Fans can ask questions by posting their comments on the live video. A Facebook account is not required to watch Cardinal Live.
Extra Points ... Stanford had six tackles for loss and two sacks against Utah … The Cardinal was only four of 13 on third down … Starting offensive guard Nate Herbig returned after missing the Arizona State game, while leading receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside did not play … cornerback Quenton Meeks intercepted his first pass of the season, with an assist from defensive end Eric Cotton, who had a hold of Williams' right leg as he threw … After making his first 34 kicks as a collegian (10 field goals, 24 extra points), sophomore Jet Toner missed a 27-yard field goal. He rebounded by converting a 46-yarder late in the first half to lift the Cardinal to a 13-10 lead … Love's touchdown run aside, the play of the game came from Utah kicker Matt Gay. When the Utes scored with 44 seconds remaining, the holder fumbled the snap on the extra point. Gay stopped just in time, then kicked the ball over the upright -- narrowly -- from a standing position … Former Cardinal defensive standout Trent Murphy '13 served as honorary captain. He is now a member of the Washington Redskins.
Quotable ... "I don't think he gets enough credit for the things we have done here the last seven years." - David Shaw on Lance Anderson, the Willie Shaw Director of Defense.
