Turnovers were the Arizona football team’s undoing yesterday in a 20-16 loss to Stanford before a Family Weekend crowd of 54,216 at Arizona Stadium.

The Wildcats (1-5, 0-3 Pacific 10 Conference) committed five turnovers, three of which resulted in Cardinal scores.

“We killed ourselves,” said senior tailback Mike Bell. “I know a couple times myself I was dropping the ball and just being careless.” In the third quarter, Bell, who rushed for 88 yards, got his first touchdown on the ground since Sept. 10, a score that cut a 10-point Stanford lead to 17-14. Giveaways aside, Arizona won every statistical category, except the one that matters most – points.

The Wildcats gained 271 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for over 34 minutes, while Stanford (3-2, 2-1) finished with only 195 total yards.

However, the Cardinal often enjoyed a short field offensively, thanks to four Arizona turnovers committed in its own territory.

“(The offense) had a lot of momentum, but little mistakes killed us,” said Bell, who had one of three Wildcat fumbles.

Arizona opened the game with an 80-yard drive that resulted in a Gilbert Harris touchdown, but failed to score again for the next 33 minutes.

The Cardinal offense relied heavily on senior quarterback Trent Edwards, and he delivered. Edwards finished the night with 137 yards on 16-of-26 passing with two touchdowns, and was Stanford’s leading rusher with 32 yards on 9 carries.

Sophomore linebacker Spencer Larsen, who has been sidelined at various points this year with knee and hamstring injuries, had an impact in his first full game since 2002.

Larsen had a team-high 10 tackles in a defensive effort head coach Mike Stoops said was one of Arizona’s best all season.

“I don’t think (Stanford) was able to move the ball downfield all night,” Stoops said.

“The only plays they got were quarterback scrambles.” Junior tight end Brad Wood, who finished with five receptions for 31 yards, said the loss was particularly tough to swallow, as Arizona “expected great things” against Stanford.