DALLAS - The West Virginia University football team has arrived in Dallas to begin final preparations for its Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl game against Utah in the Cotton Bowl.
 
The Mountaineers had an afternoon practice at Milan Puskar Stadium this afternoon and will resume work on Friday at the Dallas Cowboys' team practice facility in Frisco, Texas.
 
WVU also has workouts scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Christmas Day leading into Tuesday's tilt against the 6-6 Utes.
 
"We tried to poll our guys to see who has been in Texas for an extended period of time, and there are not a whole bunch of them," Coach Dana Holgorsen said. "Dallas is kind of the Big 12 headquarters. It's the hub of the Big 12. Being able to spend a few days there to experience it, I think it will be good for our team."
 
The two coordinators and select players will be made available to the media prior to Friday's practice, and Holgorsen and team captains Al-Rasheed Benton and Elijah Wellman will attend the Heart of Dallas Bowl News Conference at the Cotton Bowl on Sunday morning.
 
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West Virginia (7-5) is making its 36^th bowl appearance and fifth in Texas. The last time the Mountaineers played a bowl game in the Lone Star State was in 1987 when they lost, 35-33, to Oklahoma State in the Sun Bowl.
 
Tuesday's game will be West Virginia's second ever against Utah. The only other meeting came in the 1964 Liberty Bowl played at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
 
This will be bowl No. 12 for Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who owns a 10-1 record in bowl games there.
 
"Obviously, the thing that stands out more than anything is Coach Whittingham is 10-1 in bowl games in the last 13 years," Holgorsen said. "Whatever they are doing in bowl games, I'm probably going to try to corner him and figure it out once this thing is over with. They have done a great job with their program."
 
The Heart of Dallas Bowl will kick off at 1:30 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN.