This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Palo Alto, Calif. • Utah was well-represented in its first visit to Palo Alto since 1996.
While the Stanford crowd was sparse and late-arriving, the sold-out visitors' section was packed to the gills with fans in a lighter shade of red.
At times, the Utah chants were louder than the demure home crowd, and the Utah band drowning out the (smaller) Stanford band.
Utah Athletics flew an aerial banner that read "Go Utes! #LightTheU" around Stanford Stadium before kickoff.
If it felt something like Utah owned the place, and, by one measure, they did: Stanford lost both previous meetings in Palo Alto — in 1996, and in 1989, days after the massive earthquake hit the Bay Area. The Cardinal's closest-to-home victory against Utah came in Berkely, Calif., in 1924.
Orchard sets sack record
Nate Orchard recorded 3.5 sacks in the first three quarters for the school's all-time single-season record, at 16.5.
The senior defensive end surpassed Jimmy Bellamy, who had 15 in 1991, after earlier in the game eclipsing Jeff Reyes' 14 in 1983.
His 22 career sacks are five short of John Frank for Utah's career record.
Orchard also forced a fumble in the first half.
Uketah
The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band appeared to take a dig at last year's 27-21 upset — or something, at least — when in a pregame performance they formed the shape of a ukulele and spelled out "UKE," then "FLUKE," then "UKETAH."
In 2004, the band poked fun at Brigham Young with a mock polygamous marriage ceremony.
Special guests
In attendance Saturday were Utah president David Pershing (whose allegiance will be tested against alma mater Arizona next weekend) and athletic director Chris Hill, as well as representatives from the Foster Farms Bowl (formerly the Fight Hunger Bowl, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, and the Emerald Bowl).
Scouts were also on hand from Miami, Arizona, San Francisco, Carolina, Tennessee, the New York Jets, Green Bay, Atlanta and Oakland.
Utah ties
Stanford's roster features three Utah players: Pleasant Grove's Brandon Fanaika (offensive guard) and Dallas Lloyd (quarterback-turned-safety), and Bingham's Dalton Schultz (tight end). Fanaika was lost for the season due to injury, and Schultz is redshirting. Woods Cross safety/linebacker Sean Barton committed to Stanford before leaving on an LDS mission to West Africa. All four were recruited by defensive coordinator Lance Anderson, who coached at Utah State and played for one season as a linebacker under Kyle Whittingham at Idaho State. Utah's roster includes 35 Californians, but only one, backup senior wideout Andre Lewis, hails from the Bay Area (San Francisco).
Wildcats withstand Washington
Utah's next opponent, No. 17 Arizona, was outgained by visiting Washington 504 to 374, but two fourth-quarter field goals from Casey Skowron, including a 47-yard game-winner, kept the Wildcats' Pac-12 South title hopes alive and well.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon finished 17 of 39 for 252 yards but was touchdown-less and picked off twice after entering the contest with five touchdowns (25) for every interception.
The kickoff time and TV broadcast for Saturday's game will be announced Sunday.
Twitter: @matthew_piper