PHOTOS BY KELLY PRESNELL / arizona daily star

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Final score: Stanford 24, Arizona 23

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STANFORD, Calif. — The Stanford Stadium scoreboard remained lit for hours after Saturday's game ended, broadcasting the final score and yardage totals in vivid red numbers.

The Arizona Wildcats don't need reminding.

Their bodies will tell them this morning, when bruises, sore muscles and injuries make it hard to get out of bed. Their coaches will remind them — loudly — during Monday's film sessions.

Their 24-23 loss — the biggest red number of them all — will reflect it in perpetuity.

Stanford ground the Wildcats' defense to a blunt nub on Saturday, posting 438 yards of total offense — 286 coming on the ground — on the way to a win in front of a homecoming crowd.

Tailback Toby Gerhart tied the game by punching in a 1-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds remaining. Place-kicker Aaron Zagory's PAT won it.

Arizona led 17-7 in the second quarter and 23-17 with less than a minute left, but never really had control.

The Wildcats left Northern California feeling numb.

"We fought kind of uphill all day," UA coach Mike Stoops said quietly following the loss. "We were struggling. We were kind of hanging on but we made enough plays to keep ourselves ahead until the last minute of the game."

Arizona hits the midpoint of its season 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10. Its two losses, a Week 3 defeat at New Mexico and Saturday's loss, have come by a combined nine points.

"I know we played down to the level of those teams," defensive end Ricky Elmore said. "It's a sick feeling."

Saturday's loss almost defies explanation.

Stanford (4-3 overall, 3-1 Pac-10) posted its best offensive performance of the season but turned the ball over three times, shuffled in three quarterbacks and was forced to abandon its run-first attack when Gerhart left just before halftime with a shoulder contusion and cuts to his hand.

The Cardinal's bruising ball-carrier returned for the second half, and finished with 116 hard-earned yards on 24 carries.

Gerhart carried six times for 12 yards on the Cardinal's game-winning drive. When quarterback Alex Loukas sneaked 7 yards to Arizona's 2-yard line, there was little doubt where the ball was going.

Gerhart ran to the left for 1 yard. The clock running, Stanford lined up again and ran the same play. This time, it worked.

The chilled, sleepy crowd of 30,689 erupted, seemingly for the first time all afternoon. The Wildcats had one last chance, but lost 2 yards on three plays.

"I'm very disappointed," Stoops said, "that we couldn't finish better than that."

The Wildcats had chances to extend their lead only to fall flat. Wide receivers Delashaun Dean and Mike Thomas both appeared to catch touchdown passes only to be ruled out of bounds. Thomas' catch came on third down during Arizona's second-to-last drive; the Wildcats instead settled for a field goal and a six-point lead.

Quarterback Willie Tuitama completed 22 of 34 passes for 259 yards, but couldn't put the ball in the end zone. In fact, Arizona failed to score a touchdown in three red-zone trips. The Wildcats' two touchdowns came on a 25-yard run by tailback Nicolas Grigsby and a 75-yard interception return by safety Nate Ness.

"Any time you're on the road and have to settle for three points, you've got problems. I've always said that," Stoops said. "We couldn't get the knockout punch, and that's what happens. You let a team hang around that's very opportunistic give them a chance. … I mean, we gave them great field position on that last drive at the (Stanford) 40-yard line. I'm just disappointed we couldn't play better."

Stanford spread the ball among a half-dozen players — three of them quarterbacks. Starter Tavita Pritchard was forced from the game at halftime with a concussion. Backup Jason Forcier was mostly ineffective, completing just 2 of 6 passes for 18 yards.

Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh saved Loukas, a speedy junior from Bannockburn, Ill., for the final drive. Stanford's third-string quarterback responded by coolly putting up 60 yards, 29 coming on the ground. Loukas sneaked 7 yards on third-and-6 from Arizona's 9, setting up Gerhart's score.

"It's embarrassing," Ness said. "Arizona's known for defense, Stoops, smash-mouth … we just didn't finish off plays."

The Wildcats were outplayed. They must hope they haven't also been figured out.

Arizona will face the teeth of its schedule in the next two weeks, hosting conference-leading California and powerhouse USC.

With the exception of lowly Washington State, Arizona's final remaining opponents should provide the type of challenge the Cats avoided during a charmed first month of the season.

Ness said Arizona must remain single-minded if it hopes to make its first bowl game since 1998. And that means no reminding.

"The only thing we can do is chalk up the 'L'," Ness said, "and get ready for Cal."