Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU, Utah to Meet in Dallas For 2nd Time Ever
December 03, 2017 09:02 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After 53 years, West Virginia finally gets another crack at Utah.
Well, not really.
West Virginia and Utah will meet in this year's Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl at the historic Cotton Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 26, at 1:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.
The last and only time these two schools met was in the 1964 Liberty Bowl when the Roy Jefferson-led Utes blew past West Virginia 32-6 at the Atlantic City Convention Center in the first college bowl game ever played indoors.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was only five when that game was played, so it's highly doubtful he watched the ABC telecast from his childhood home in San Luis Obispo, California.
We know West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen didn't see it because he was born seven years later in 1971.
This year's intriguing matchup features teams from Power 5 Conferences - West Virginia, which finished tied with Texas, Kansas State and Iowa State for fourth in the Big 12 with a 5-4 record, and Utah, which finished fifth in the Pac-12 South ahead of Colorado with a 3-6 record.
West Virginia (7-5) was sitting at 7-3 and ranked in the top 25 after week 10 before quarterback Will Grier injured his throwing hand in the first quarter of the Mountaineers' 28-14 loss to Texas. He also missed WVU's final regular season game at Oklahoma, a 59-31 defeat to College Football Playoff-bound Sooners.
Whether or not Grier, the nation's seventh-most efficient passer, will be available for the Heart of Dallas Bowl is uncertain.
"He goes back to the doctor next week. I'm going to go down there and meet with them in Charlotte," Holgorsen said. "We've got to get him back to the doctor to look at it and evaluatle it after that."
Chris Chugunov started in place of Grier against Oklahoma and the sophomore completed half of his 20 pass attempts for 137 yards in the 38-point loss. Most of West Virginia's offense came from backup tailback Kennedy McKoy out of the Wildcat formation. The sophomore ran for a career-high 137 yards and scored three of the Mountaineers' four rushing touchdowns.
"I was excited with the way Chris took the reins against Texas in a bad situation and I thought he went out there and played well," Holgorsen said. "He got better against Oklahoma as well so I think he's capable of being able to take our team with a lot of prep work and go out there and play again against a good Utah team."
The WVU defense, which performed much better in late-season wins against Iowa State and Kansas State, struggled mightily against OU's high-powered offensive attack. The Sooners piled up 646 total yards and punted only once late in the third quarter.
West Virginia ranks 16th in total offense, averaging 485.2 yards per game, and 110th in total defense, giving up 452.5 yards per contest.
Holgorsen will be taking his sixth West Virginia team to a bowl game, where he holds a 2-3 record. He defeated Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl and Arizona State in the 2016 Cactus Bowl, while showing losses to Syracuse in the 2012 Pinstripe, to Texas A&M in the 2014 Liberty, and to Miami in the 2016 Camping World bowls.
"Tough opponent," Whittingham said. "Coach Holgorsen I've followed him for years and what he's done and his offenses have always been prolific. This year is no different. They've got a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,000-yard receiver who caught nearly 100 balls; a terrific quarterback and they're outstanding in the red zone. They've got a lot of things going for them."
It is West Virginia's 36th bowl appearance and its fifth in Texas, the last trip to the Lone Star State coming in 1987 when the Mountaineers lost to Oklahoma State in the Sun Bowl in El Paso.
"We're thrilled to death to be able to be in Dallas to play a bowl game here this year," Holgorsen said. "It's exciting to play in the Big 12 hub. The Big 12 has been really good to West Virginia University and really good to our football program so being able to be there to play a very quality Utah team is something we're really excited about."
This will be Utah's 22nd bowl appearance.
Utah (6-6) has traditionally been known for its strong defense under Whittingham, the Utes' former defensive coordinator who was promoted to head coach when Urban Meyer left to take the Florida job prior to the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.
Whittingham coached Utah to a 35-7 victory over Pitt in that game, which, ironically, the Panthers were playing in instead of West Virginia. Pitt upset the Mountaineers at Heinz Field with the help of a controversial call late in the game that led to a three-way tie for the Big East title.
Pitt earned the Fiesta Bowl bid on the basis of its head-to-head victory against West Virginia.
Whittingham has won 110 of 166 games during his 13-year tenure at Utah, including an impressive 10-1 record in bowl games.
In addition to the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham also shows bowl wins over Georgia Tech in the Emerald, Tulsa in the Armed Forces, Navy and Cal in the Poinsettia, Alabama in the Sugar, Georgia Tech in the Sun, Colorado State and BYU in the Las Vegas and Indiana in the Foster Farms a year ago in 2016.
His only loss came to Boise State in the 2010 Maaco Bowl.
"Our secret formula is our players prepare hard and do it the right way and that's what it's all about," Whittingham said. "We don't have a routine or a process that is super top secret. It's just our guys in our program taking a lot of pride in bowl games and they prepare the right way."
"We're very aware of their bowl game history so it's going to be a challenge for us," Holgorsen said. "Coach Whittingham does a great job with that program. It's a national brand and we're excited about this matchup."
The Utes became bowl-eligible on the final weekend of the regular season when they knocked off Colorado, 34-13, in Salt Lake City. Running back Zach Moss and quarterback Troy Williams each scored twice in the 21-point victory.
Moss ran for 196 yards to give him 1,023 yards and nine touchdowns for the regular season. It's the 17th time in school history the Utes have had a 1,000-yard rusher.
Williams, starting in place of injured starter Tyler Huntley, scored both touchdowns in the second quarter while completing 15-of-24 passes for 181 yards against the Buffaloes.
Huntley injured his shoulder in Utah's win against Arizona and missed the next 2 ½ games before returning to play against Arizona State, a 30-10 loss. Huntley is considered a better runner than Williams and accounted for 2,246 yards and 15 touchdowns in nine games through the air, while adding 480 yards and four scores on the ground.
Utah ranks 47th in total offense at 417.7 yards per game and 32nd in total defense, giving up just 353.8 yards per outing.
A difference of just seven points in close losses to Stanford (23-20), USC (28-27) and Washington (33-30) could have meant a nine-win regular season for Utah instead of a .500 record.
In last year's Heart of Dallas Bowl game, Army defeated North Texas in overtime, 38-31.
West Virginia has played once before in the Cotton Bowl, the Mountaineers defeating SMU 28-22 there on Oct. 4, 1975 during coach Bobby Bowden's final season in Morgantown.
Well, not really.
West Virginia and Utah will meet in this year's Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl at the historic Cotton Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 26, at 1:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.
The last and only time these two schools met was in the 1964 Liberty Bowl when the Roy Jefferson-led Utes blew past West Virginia 32-6 at the Atlantic City Convention Center in the first college bowl game ever played indoors.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was only five when that game was played, so it's highly doubtful he watched the ABC telecast from his childhood home in San Luis Obispo, California.
We know West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen didn't see it because he was born seven years later in 1971.
This year's intriguing matchup features teams from Power 5 Conferences - West Virginia, which finished tied with Texas, Kansas State and Iowa State for fourth in the Big 12 with a 5-4 record, and Utah, which finished fifth in the Pac-12 South ahead of Colorado with a 3-6 record.
West Virginia (7-5) was sitting at 7-3 and ranked in the top 25 after week 10 before quarterback Will Grier injured his throwing hand in the first quarter of the Mountaineers' 28-14 loss to Texas. He also missed WVU's final regular season game at Oklahoma, a 59-31 defeat to College Football Playoff-bound Sooners.
Whether or not Grier, the nation's seventh-most efficient passer, will be available for the Heart of Dallas Bowl is uncertain.
"He goes back to the doctor next week. I'm going to go down there and meet with them in Charlotte," Holgorsen said. "We've got to get him back to the doctor to look at it and evaluatle it after that."
Chris Chugunov started in place of Grier against Oklahoma and the sophomore completed half of his 20 pass attempts for 137 yards in the 38-point loss. Most of West Virginia's offense came from backup tailback Kennedy McKoy out of the Wildcat formation. The sophomore ran for a career-high 137 yards and scored three of the Mountaineers' four rushing touchdowns.
"I was excited with the way Chris took the reins against Texas in a bad situation and I thought he went out there and played well," Holgorsen said. "He got better against Oklahoma as well so I think he's capable of being able to take our team with a lot of prep work and go out there and play again against a good Utah team."
The WVU defense, which performed much better in late-season wins against Iowa State and Kansas State, struggled mightily against OU's high-powered offensive attack. The Sooners piled up 646 total yards and punted only once late in the third quarter.
West Virginia ranks 16th in total offense, averaging 485.2 yards per game, and 110th in total defense, giving up 452.5 yards per contest.
Holgorsen will be taking his sixth West Virginia team to a bowl game, where he holds a 2-3 record. He defeated Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl and Arizona State in the 2016 Cactus Bowl, while showing losses to Syracuse in the 2012 Pinstripe, to Texas A&M in the 2014 Liberty, and to Miami in the 2016 Camping World bowls.
"Tough opponent," Whittingham said. "Coach Holgorsen I've followed him for years and what he's done and his offenses have always been prolific. This year is no different. They've got a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,000-yard receiver who caught nearly 100 balls; a terrific quarterback and they're outstanding in the red zone. They've got a lot of things going for them."
It is West Virginia's 36th bowl appearance and its fifth in Texas, the last trip to the Lone Star State coming in 1987 when the Mountaineers lost to Oklahoma State in the Sun Bowl in El Paso.
"We're thrilled to death to be able to be in Dallas to play a bowl game here this year," Holgorsen said. "It's exciting to play in the Big 12 hub. The Big 12 has been really good to West Virginia University and really good to our football program so being able to be there to play a very quality Utah team is something we're really excited about."
This will be Utah's 22nd bowl appearance.
Utah (6-6) has traditionally been known for its strong defense under Whittingham, the Utes' former defensive coordinator who was promoted to head coach when Urban Meyer left to take the Florida job prior to the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.
Whittingham coached Utah to a 35-7 victory over Pitt in that game, which, ironically, the Panthers were playing in instead of West Virginia. Pitt upset the Mountaineers at Heinz Field with the help of a controversial call late in the game that led to a three-way tie for the Big East title.
Pitt earned the Fiesta Bowl bid on the basis of its head-to-head victory against West Virginia.
Whittingham has won 110 of 166 games during his 13-year tenure at Utah, including an impressive 10-1 record in bowl games.
In addition to the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham also shows bowl wins over Georgia Tech in the Emerald, Tulsa in the Armed Forces, Navy and Cal in the Poinsettia, Alabama in the Sugar, Georgia Tech in the Sun, Colorado State and BYU in the Las Vegas and Indiana in the Foster Farms a year ago in 2016.
His only loss came to Boise State in the 2010 Maaco Bowl.
"Our secret formula is our players prepare hard and do it the right way and that's what it's all about," Whittingham said. "We don't have a routine or a process that is super top secret. It's just our guys in our program taking a lot of pride in bowl games and they prepare the right way."
"We're very aware of their bowl game history so it's going to be a challenge for us," Holgorsen said. "Coach Whittingham does a great job with that program. It's a national brand and we're excited about this matchup."
The Utes became bowl-eligible on the final weekend of the regular season when they knocked off Colorado, 34-13, in Salt Lake City. Running back Zach Moss and quarterback Troy Williams each scored twice in the 21-point victory.
Moss ran for 196 yards to give him 1,023 yards and nine touchdowns for the regular season. It's the 17th time in school history the Utes have had a 1,000-yard rusher.
Williams, starting in place of injured starter Tyler Huntley, scored both touchdowns in the second quarter while completing 15-of-24 passes for 181 yards against the Buffaloes.
Huntley injured his shoulder in Utah's win against Arizona and missed the next 2 ½ games before returning to play against Arizona State, a 30-10 loss. Huntley is considered a better runner than Williams and accounted for 2,246 yards and 15 touchdowns in nine games through the air, while adding 480 yards and four scores on the ground.
Utah ranks 47th in total offense at 417.7 yards per game and 32nd in total defense, giving up just 353.8 yards per outing.
A difference of just seven points in close losses to Stanford (23-20), USC (28-27) and Washington (33-30) could have meant a nine-win regular season for Utah instead of a .500 record.
In last year's Heart of Dallas Bowl game, Army defeated North Texas in overtime, 38-31.
West Virginia has played once before in the Cotton Bowl, the Mountaineers defeating SMU 28-22 there on Oct. 4, 1975 during coach Bobby Bowden's final season in Morgantown.
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