STANFORD, Calif. -- After three years of losing seasons and uninspired play under Buddy Teevens, Stanford hired Walt Harris because of his offensive expertise.

But one home game into his tenure, the Cardinal's offense has rarely looked worse.

Stanford (1-1) couldn't even manage an offensive touchdown Saturday night in a 20-17 loss to a UC Davis team making the transition from Division II to Division I-AA.

"The bottom line when you lose, you lose," Harris said. "It doesn't matter if it's Davis or USC. When you play like that, you will lose every game."

The game got off to a bad start for Stanford when starting quarterback Trent Edwards went down with an injured right hand on the team's second series. That forced Harris to turn to T.C. Ostrander, who struggled last year when Edwards got hurt and was little better as a replacement this time.

Ostrander went just 7-for-17 for 108 yards and one interception and the Cardinal had only seven first downs after his first drive ended in an interception at the UC Davis 1. The undersized Aggies front had three sacks, seven tackles for losses and allowed just 2.5 yards per carry.

"It's hard to pinpoint one thing," Ostrander said. "Collectively on offense we didn't get the job done. I was extremely disappointed in how I played."

UC Davis was able to move the ball as well, gaining 361 yards and moving the ball consistently. If not for three missed field goals, the Aggies might not have needed Jon Grant's 3-yard touchdown pass to Blaise Smith with 8 seconds left to win it.

"It's a little embarrassing because we just didn't show up to play," Stanford linebacker Kevin Schimmelmann said. "They played better and they were the better team today. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

For UC Davis, this was probably the biggest win in school history and an unlikely one at that. The Aggies (1-2) lost their first two games at home to New Hampshire and Portland State and didn't figure to get on the winning track on the road against a Pac-10 team.

But they showed no signs of intimidation playing in front of the biggest crowd in school history -- many of the 31,250 in attendance were UC Davis supporters. They didn't let down after giving up two defensive scores in the first half and falling behind 17-0.

Instead they rallied to beat a Division I-A team for the first time since 1986 against Pacific.

"We always felt confident," Smith said. "I don't know what they said at halftime, but we just saw that small opening and it was enough. ... I knew if we got the ball back in our desperation offense, we could make the plays. It seemed like we always do."

If there's a positive to look at for the Cardinal, it could be that Harris almost lost to a Division I-AA team last year when Pittsburgh needed to rally from 17 points down to beat Furman 41-38 in overtime on its way to a BCS bowl game.

But with Stanford's Pac-10 schedule starting Oct. 1 at home against Oregon, the Cardinal need to show dramatic improvement if they are to have a similar recovery.

They also might need to do it without Edwards, who had ice on his hand for most of the game. The Cardinal are already without top receiver Evan Moore, who dislocated his right hip in the opener against Navy and will be out six-to-eight weeks.

Edwards' status was not immediately known, but he could be sidelined, too, if there was a broken bone.

"I don't know if it's broken," Harris said. "Something is wrong with his hand. It was a big loss, he's a good football player and he's had the most practice time. We are a little more freewheeling with him."