SALT LAKE CITY — Justin Herbert and Darren Carrington were both on the field here again.

Unfortunately for Oregon’s starting quarterback, his former go-to wide receiver is out of eligibility and was just taking in the game as a fan — wearing a Utah sweatshirt.

Herbert, whose touchdown pass to Carrington with two seconds left delivered the Ducks’ dramatic upset of the Utes here in 2016, was unable to recreate any last-minute magic at the two-year reunion.

Oregon lost its third consecutive road game with a 32-25 defeat to short-handed Utah on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 46,275 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Ducks (6-4, 3-4) fought back from 13-0 and 19-7 deficits to grab the lead in the fourth quarter.

However, they could not hold off the Utes (7-3, 5-3), who lost starting quarterback Tyler Huntley and star running back Zack Moss to injuries in the past week.

“There’s no comfort in progress,” Ducks coach Mario Cristobal said after his team showed more fight than it did in the first half of the 34-20 loss at Washington State or at any point in the 44-15 debacle the following week at Arizona. “We’ve got to find a way to start quicker on the road.”

Herbert completed eight passes to Dillon Mitchell for 169 yards and two touchdowns. The Ducks’ dynamic duo was unable to get anything done on the offense’s final two drives.

Trailing 29-25, Herbert’s pass to Mitchell on fourth-and-5 at the Utah 45-yard line was broken up by cornerback Jaylon Brown.

Matt Gay’s sixth field goal, a single-game Utah record, made it a seven-point game in the final minute.

Time ran out on the Ducks’ comeback bid as the clock expired following Herbert’s 28-yard pass to Brenden Schooler over the middle.

“We’ve got a very motivated group of guys,” Oregon center Jake Hanson said of the mood in the visiting locker room.

“Everybody’s upset — older guys to young guys, starters to backups. No one is going to give up or point any fingers.

“Everybody is going to look within and just know that they have to do more to get these wins.”

“It was good to see us fight,” nose guard Jordon Scott said. “But good isn’t enough in the Pac-12.”

“When we came out in the second half and we scored, and our defense started playing a little better, too. It goes hand in hand,” Hanson said. “Then we got the momentum a little bit after we scored. I think things were rolling. Just gotta finish, didn’t finish.”

“We’ve got to wake up when we’re on the road and perform better,” linebacker Troy Dye said. “It’s unacceptable.”