At some point in this college football season, Stanford figured to establish a clear edge over Cal. Widely forecast in August, this development would likely be evident after a handful of games — and Saturday night’s action left little doubt.

Cal was thoroughly outclassed 38-7 at Washington, scoring only when cornerback Darius Allensworth picked up a fumble and took it 37 yards to the end zone with the game well decided. Stanford managed to pull off one of the most difficult tasks in the Pac-12 — winning at Utah — in a 23-20 victory that once again displayed the sensational talents of running back Bryce Love.

Every time Stanford lines up for an offensive snap, there’s a question about the quarterback — who’s in there now? — and the passing game in general. No such confusion surrounds Love, who was often held in check by a Utah defense aligned specifically to stop him, but who gave the Cardinal a 23-13 lead with his electrifying 68-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

And there’s the biggest difference, among many, between the Bay Area teams. Love is capable of pure excitement every time he touches the ball. Even on this off-night, he rushed for 152 yards and kept himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation (yes, it’s way too early to dwell on such things, but not when it’s a local player involved). Cal has been stripped of two crucial weapons, with running back Tre Watson and wide receiver Demetris Robertson out for the season, and against the 6th-ranked Huskies (6-0), every play carried the hint of doom.

The offensive line was so thoroughly overwhelmed by Washington’s defensive front, Cal produced a shocking minus-40 net yards rushing, including the seven sacks that piled upon quarterback Ross Bowers. The passing game was only slightly more effective with 133 yards, although there was an interesting development when Chase Forrest, Bowers’ backup, entered the game.

Part of the reason coach Justin Wilcox needed all of training camp to choose his starting quarterback, finally settling on Bowers, was that last year’s coach, Sonny Dykes, left the entire season to Davis Webb. Even in one-sided games, his backups never threw a single pass. As Cal rushed to a 3-0 start this season, it was clear that Wilcox made the right choice in Bowers. And that’s not likely to change. But Forrest finally got some playing time and looked sharp on the Bears’ final drive, going 5-for-8 overall for 53 yards.

Many observers felt K.J. Costello deserved the starting job for Stanford this week, but coach David Shaw had him split time with Keller Chryst. Neither was particularly impressive, although Chryst may have locked up next week’s start by running 7 yards for a touchdown and connecting with tight end Kaden Smith for a 54-yard gain.

It’s the back-and-forth parade that bothers some people, notably a lot of Stanford fans and former NFL quarterback Danny Kanell, the analyst on FS1’s game telecast. After a false start spoiled a third-quarter play with Costello in charge, Kanell called it “one of the reasons I don’t like switching quarterbacks mid-game. David Shaw knows his quarterbacks better than anybody, but I think this is why you’re seeing the Stanford offense struggle to find its rhythm.”

As for the night-game controversy brought up by Huskies coach Chris Petersen (“We should all play at 1 p.m.”), two things: One, he’s right, and two, just expect your team to play 7:30 p.m. games for the rest of time under the Pac-12’s complete failure of a setup. If you happen to get an afternoon start, consider it some sort of gift from above.

Wrapping up the evening:

•Stanford got a break when Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley missed the game with an injury. Troy Williams has talent, but he made a number of poor decisions, especially on the pass intercepted by Quenton Meeks in the fourth quarter. Williams was in the process of being brought down by defensive end Eric Cotton and just heaved it up for grabs.

•Remarkably, this was Stanford’s first win over a ranked team (Utah was No. 20) outside California since November of 2012 against 10th-ranked Oregon.

•Targeting penalties will cost Stanford next week, with defensive standouts Harrison Phillips and Peter Kalambayi forced to sit out the first half. It will be a home game against the Oregon Ducks, who were forced to play third-string quarterback Braxton Burmeister against Washington State on Saturday and were totally inept offensively. Oregon always has the potential to be dangerous, but the injury to star quarterback Justin Herbert is a devastating blow.

•Kanell on FSI on the night-game overload, after Love’s 68-yard touchdown run: “It’s one in the morning on the East Coast. Not a lot of people saw that, and it’s too bad. that’s why Christian McCaffrey didn’t win the Heisman Trophy.”

•It would have been nice to give Bowers some sort of a reward during his tough night in Seattle. He threw a beautiful third-quarter pass down the right sideline to Jeremiah Hawkins, who beat his man and had a 51-yard touchdown play in his hip pocket — but Hawkins dropped it.

•A terrific race is gaining momentum in the Northern Division with Washington and Washington State at 3-0 and Stanford 3-1. The Cardinal should win their next two games — home against Oregon, on the road at Oregon State — and they’d be advised to get it done. Washington State’s next three opponents are Cal, Colorado and Arizona, while Washington plays Arizona State, UCLA and Oregon.

Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1