SALT LAKE CITY — In the end, it’s all about the love.
Er, The Love.
And the pain.
Sometimes they’re one and the same.
Saturday at Rice-Eccles, the Utes held off Stanford running back Bryce Love for a long time. And then he broke through for a 68-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, paving the way for the Cardinal win.
So it was a lot about Love, but other things, too. For instance, two teams that always hold the suspense.
No pretty stuff allowed.
The Utes’ first home conference game went about like expected. It was roughneck football. Stanford vs. Utah: Men at Work.
It’s not art.
In a way, Saturday’s game served as a harbinger for the rest of the season for Utah.
It’s not going to be smooth. It’ll be a grind.
The Utes did a fair but incomplete job of containing Love. Going into the fourth quarter he had just 69 rushing yards. Then he burst through the middle for a 69-yard scoring play to put Stanford up 23-13. It was a gut punch in every sense.
That’s how these teams do things. They’re not terribly pretty — but worth watching.
Curiously, Stanford’s first big play wasn’t a Love Connection. Cardinal quarterback Keller Chryst connected with Kaden Smith on a 54-yard pass, leading to a field goal by Jet Toner (insert inkjet printer jokes here).
But overall the game was what Utah coach Kyle Whittingham promised: a smash-mouth affair.
Quarterback Troy Williams, in his first start this season, was under pressure far too often. Then, trying to make a play instead of getting sacked, he was intercepted with 8:26 remaining and Stanford up 23-13.
Having been forewarned, the Utes ganged up on Love, holding him to just 8 yards on his first nine carries. But as everyone knows, love is fickle. He broke free for a 39-yard run and a 19-yarder, both leading to Stanford scores. Love rushed for 66 yards in the first half, but 58 of them came on two plays.
But as they say in the songs, love hurts.
Later came the long scoring run.
For matchup reasons — and others known only to the cosmos — Utah has traditionally fared well against Stanford. Arizona and Stanford are the only Pac-12 teams against which Utah has an all-time winning record. Going into Saturday’s game, Utah hadn’t lost to the Cardinal since 1995. After that, the Utes won in 1996, 2013 and 2014.
There is no real explanation why Utah should have a winning record against the Cardinal. In 1989, Stanford had Ed McCaffrey, who went on to two 1,000-yard receiving seasons with the Denver Broncos. The 1996 Cardinal won seven games, including a 38-0 victory over Michigan State in the Sun Bowl and regular-season wins over both USC and UCLA.
But there was no getting past the Utes.
The 2013 Cardinal had Kevin Hogan, who passed for 2,630 yards, and Tyler Gaffney, who rushed for 1,709 yards. It wasn’t enough. The next year Stanford had both Hogan (2,792 passing yards) and a young but rising Christian McCaffrey (son of Ed McCaffrey), yet still lost to Utah in double overtime.
Most experts say Utah has fared well against the Cardinal because it matches brute force with brute force. Take this year, for instance. Stanford’s Love came in averaging 11 yards a carry and had already rushed for 1,088 yards. Normally he can’t fall out of bed without gaining a first down.
But he struggled for his yards — most of the night.
Utah played well defensively — most of the night.
Kyle Whittingham predicted earlier in the week it would be “a slugfest type of game.” That’s not clairvoyance. It’s acceptance. After a 65-year hiatus, the teams resumed play in 1989. That year they met at Stanford Stadium, four days after the Bay Area quake. After that they have played five games, with Utah winning four. But all were close. The Utes won by an average margin of 22-20.
And each game has been as blunt as a mallet.
If you’re going for a glamour shot, look for Oregon. But if you want flat out nasty football, few compare to Utah-Stanford.
Apparently the odds makers weren’t impressed that Utah was 4-0 and ranked No. 20 this week. They had Utah a slight underdog two days before kickoff.
No love for the Utes.