Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
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STANFORD, Calif. — For four quarters of football, neither offense was able to get into any sort of rhythm.
Stanford scored on its first possession of the game, while Utah scored in the second quarter after recovering a Cardinal fumble. Other than that, both offenses were shut down by the opposing defense, which forced 16 total punts (nine for Utah, seven for Stanford).
Tied at 7, the game headed to overtime, where Utah quarterback Travis Wilson took over.
Wilson threw for two touchdowns, one in each overtime session, as the Utes outlasted the Cardinal 20-17 in 2OT.
Using the theme of the good, the bad and the ugly, here's a breakdown of the good, the OK (needs work) and the bad in the Utes' win over the Cardinal:
California sweep: With the win over Stanford, Utah has beaten every single California school on its schedule, both in and out of the Pac-12. The Utes throttled Fresno State earlier in the season, and in conference play the Utes knocked off a top-10 UCLA Bruin team in the Rose Bowl, a nationally ranked USC team at home and the latest being a win over Stanford on the road.
Travis Wilson: His numbers weren't off the charts, but Wilson's performance was enough to guide the Utes to the win. During the overtime periods, Wilson was clutch, throwing a 25-yard TD to Kaelin Clay on the first play of the first overtime, followed by a perfect 3-yard slant pass to Kenneth Scott for the game winning touchdown in second overtime. Wilson finished 21-28 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Oh, and he added the Utes' lone touchdown in regulation, a 2-yard QB keeper. Wilson passed Jordan Wynn (2009-12) for seventh-place all-time in career passing yards with 4,696 for his career.
Tom Hackett: In a low-scoring defensive battle, field position is way more valuable. Hackett flipped the field for Utah's defense numerous times, having six of his nine punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line, including four punts inside the 10-yard line and two punts inside the 5.
Nate Orchard: With 3.5 sacks, Nate Orchard has 16.5 for the season, setting a new Utah single-season sack record. He broke the previous school record of 15 (Jimmy Bellamy, 1991). Orchard also has 19 tackles for loss this season, which ties him for fourth-most all-time. Orchard has 23 career sacks and 36.5 career tackles for loss, both which are tied for fourth-most all-time at Utah. Orchard led Utah with 10 tackles, his third double-figure tackle game this season. Orchard also forced a fumble, his second this season. He has seven career forced fumbles, tying him for third-most all-time at Utah.
#RedRedemption: Kaelin Clay caught a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime. For all of the criticism for the dropped ball short of the goalline against Oregon, it was good to see Clay make a crucial play for the Utes in their win over the Cardinal. Add Kenneth Scott to this as well. Hampered by nagging injuries for most of the season, Scott was vital in the Utes' passing game Saturday, hauling in two 32-yard catches from Wilson for a total of 71 yards receiving, including the game-winning 3-yard touchdown catch in second overtime.
Eric Rowe: Rowe was huge for the Utes in the secondary, breaking up a late Stanford pass in the fourth quarter that could have put the Cardinal in field goal range, instead sending the game to overtime. Rowe also recovered a fumble in the second quarter, his third career fumble recovery. He was second on the team with eight tackles.
Four wins: With four Pac-12 wins, Utah is now tied for its most conference victories since joining the conference (4-5 in 2011).
Kalani Sitake: Utah's defense was outstanding. After surrendering an opening score to Stanford, Utah's defense shut out the Cardinal for the rest of regulation. Utah held Stanford to 294 yards of total offense, the first time this season it has held an opponent below 300 yards.
Offensive three-and-outs: Utah is led by its defense, but even so it is still a team game. Utah's defense can't play a full 60 minutes, and relies on its offense to at least give it a breather every now and again. Four three-and-outs put the defense in a bad situation, not giving it the rest that they need in between series. It is no coincidence that Stanford's potential game-winning drive in regulation, where it drove down inside Utah territory and ate up nearly nine minutes of game clock, came after a Utah three-and-out.
Play-calling inconsistency on offense: Utah's offense looked terrific in overtime. But take away one drive in regulation where the Utes were able to put points on the board and the offense was almost nonexistent. Have faith in the system to throw the ball over the middle and allow Wilson to stay in the pocket to throw. Utah is far more successful when he plants his feet to throw than when he is asked to throw scrambling to the left or the right.
Robert Jackson is the cross platform sports and weather producer for ksl.com and KSL-TV. He has covered the Utes for KSL since 2008. You can catch him and co-host Brian Swinney Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9 p.m. on the Ute Sports Report 1320 KFAN.
