Love comes through, helps Stanford hold off No. 20 Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – Bryce Love found it tough to generate yards at times against the Utah defense. The junior found a way to come through when it mattered most for Stanford.

Highlighted by a 68-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Love rushed for 152 yards on 20 carries to propel the Cardinal to a 23-20 win over the No. 20 Utes on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 45,991 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. It marked Stanford’s first win over Utah since the Utes joined the Pac-12 in 2011.

Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst returned to the lineup for the first time since getting injured against UCLA. Chryst alternated with K.J. Costello under center with great success. The two quarterbacks combined for 188 yards on 13-of-24 passing and 42 yards on six carries.

Troy Williams, filling in for injured starter Tyler Huntley, made his first start of the season at quarterback for Utah. Williams finished with 228 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions on 20-of-39 passing.

Stanford took a 3-0 lead on a 21 yard field goal from Jet Toner to cap off its opening drive.

The Cardinal initially caught the Utes on their heels. Kaden Smith hauled in a catch, broke a couple of tackles and raced 54 yards down to the Utah 12. Bryce Love ripped off a run into the end zone on the next play, but an illegal motion penalty wiped out the score. A second penalty followed and Stanford eventually settled for three points.

Trading a touchdown for a field goal stunted Stanford’s momentum for a while. Utah took advantage, going ahead 7-3 on a 2-yard run from Zack Moss after Moss piled up 26 yards on back-to-back runs to open the drive. A slow start from Love didn’t help either.

Love gained just eight total yards on his first nine carries. It took him until the second quarter to gain more than five yards on a run. When Love finally found a little space, he immediately shredded Utah’s defense. The junior burst down the sideline for 39 yards and it set up a 7-yard keeper from Chryst on the next play that gave Stanford a 10-7 lead.

From there, it bogged down into a field goal contest stretching into the fourth quarter. Toner gave the Cardinal the upper hand. He made a 46-yarder just before halftime and tacked on another from 29 yards out in the third quarter to put Stanford up 16-10.

Utah narrowed it to 16-13 deficit on a 30-yard field goal from Matt Gay. Then, early in the fourth quarter, Love made a game-changing play. He found a gap in the line and, once Love broke through, raced 68 yards for a touchdown. It gave the Cardinal their largest lead at 23-13 with 12:02 left. For Love, it marked his eighth straight game with a touchdown run longer than 50 yards.

The Utes drove deep into Stanford territory on the following drive after a 24-yard catch and run by Darren Carrington moved them down to the Cardinal 25. Quenton Marks ended the threat when he intercepted a tipped ball at the Stanford 16.

Troy Williams threw another interception on the first play of Utah’s ensuing drive. Justin Reid hauled in the ball at the Stanford 43 to effectively slam the door on a Utes comeback.

Utah did finally close the gap on Carrington’s 18-yard touchdown catch with 44 seconds left on a drive kept alive by two Cardinal targeting penalties. Stanford recovered a subsequent onside kick to run out the clock.