By Jeremy Harness

It continues to get worse for Stanford.

Stanford’s hopes for a Rose Bowl went by the wayside weeks ago, and the Cardinal’s chances for a significant bowl game took a bigger hit Saturday night, as they fell to Utah at Stanford Stadium, 23-20.

Despite the fact that the Cardinal entered Saturday’s game unranked while facing the No. 23 Utes, this was a very winnable game, particularly after Stanford punctuated its first drive of the game with a touchdown to give itself a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, however, Utah rolled right back and tied the game late in the quarter when quarterback Travis Wilson, who had been in and out of the starting lineup for much of this season, punched it in himself from two yards out.

The game eventually went into overtime, and the two teams traded touchdowns in the first extra session. However, Stanford was forced to settle for a 51-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson.

Utah responded by driving down the field on the stout Cardinal defense before Wilson hit Kenneth Scott for a 3-yard walk-off touchdown.

Statistically speaking, the game was a Stanford-like contest. The Cardinal out-gained Utah on the ground, 190-70, while gaining 294 total yards to Utah’s 247. However, Stanford, as was the case in the loss to USC, was unable to capitalize on key opportunities that were afforded to it during the game and instead watched as Utah walked out of Stanford with the victory.

“Offensively, (it was) just as sloppy a game as we’ve had this year,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “(I am) very disappointed in our overall performance (Saturday).

“You can see the defense played really hard and kept us in the game. But gosh, we still gave them way too much and too many opportunities. And we’ve missed some throws. We dropped passes. We missed protections.”

Meanwhile, Utah continued its quest to get itself in a quality bowl game, perhaps the Holiday Bowl, with its win.

“Another gutty performance by our guys,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s a tough group that we have in our locker room, and (I am) very proud of them.

“There’s no quit in these guys. “They’re physically tough, they’re mentally tough, and I’m proud to be associated with them.”