Utah (6-6) at West Virginia (7-5)
When: Tuesday, December 26th 2017
Where: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
Time: 1:30 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Utah -4.5/54
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The Heart of Dallas Bowl usually has a Big 12 team battling a Big Ten opponent, but the latter didn’t have enough qualifying teams, so the bowl organizers went out and grabbed another Power 5 team. They found the Utah Utes as a suitable replacement to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in the eighth edition of the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The Utes needed a 34-13 win over visiting Colorado in their regular-season finale to become bowl eligible, giving the Pac-12 nine postseason teams. It will be the 36th bowl for the Mountaineers and 21st for Utah. While both teams will be making their fourth straight bowl appearance, the Utes have had tremendous success under coach Kyle Whittingham. Utah owns a 16-4 all-time bowl record, and Whittingham has accounted for 10 of those wins for an NCAA-best postseason record of 10-1, including victories in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl over Pittsburgh (as a co-head coach) and the 2009 Sugar Bowl over Alabama. The availability of both starting quarterbacks is up in the air with West Virginia’s Will Grier and Utah’s Tyler Huntley. Grier, the nation’s seventh-ranked passer in terms of efficiency with 3,490 yards and 34 touchdown passes, had surgery after breaking the middle finger on his throwing hand in the first quarter of the Mountaineers’ loss to Texas on November 18th, and head coach Dana Holgorsen said the chances of the Florida transfer playing against Utah are “not good.” Huntley was a surprise pre-game scratch from Utah’s regular-season finale with an unspecified injury, but Whittingham classified the QB’s bowl prognosis as “looking very positive” in an early-December interview with the Salt Lake Tribune.
One man who will definitely not be on the field for West Virginia is star running back Justin Crawford, who rushed for a team-high 1,061 yards and seven TDs. Crawford announced December 14th that he will skip the bowl to focus on NFL Draft preparations. That leaves wide receivers Gary Jennings, David Sills V, and Ka’Raun White as the top offensive play-makers after they combined for 212 receptions, 2,988 yards and 30 receiving TDs. With Grier sidelined, sophomore Chris Chugunov started the Mountaineers’ regular-season finale against Oklahoma and went 10-of-20 for 137 yards in the 59-31 road loss, but reserve tailback Kennedy McKoy ran for a career-high 137 yards and three TDs in the game. Defensively, senior linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton led the way with 102 total tackles, including 13 for losses, but the Mountaineers struggled for the most part, allowing 31.6 points (92nd nationally) and 452.5 yards (110th) per game.
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Huntley missed starts on October 7th and 14th as well with a shoulder injury, but went 5-4 as a starter with a combined 19 passing and rushing scores while ranking second in the conference and 15th nationally with an average of 302.9 yards of total offense per game. If Huntley can’t play, the Utes have a capable backup in senior Troy Williams, who is 10-6 as a starter over the last two seasons, including 9-4 a year ago. Whomever is throwing passes will have senior wideout Darren Carrington II to throw to. Carrington is an Oregon transfer who ranked second in the Pac-12 with 83.5 receiving yards per game. The strength of the Utes team is the defense and special teams. The defense ranked third in the conference in rushing, total and scoring defense, while kicker Matt Gay and punter Mitch Wishnowsky both garnered multiple All-America honors.
NCAA FOOTBALL ODDS – SCORES – PUBLIC PLAYS
It’s going to be hard for West Virginia to generate any offense against the Utes defense without their quarterback and top running back. The Mountaineers defense is another problem. You can’t ignore Utah’s success in bowl games despite a 6-6 record. Whittingham will have his team ready to go.
Pick: Utah -6.5
TRENDS:
- Utes are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 vs. Big 12.
- Utes are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games on grass.
- Utes are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Utes are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 bowl games.
- Utes are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
- Utes are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games after accumulating more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Utes are 9-3-1 ATS in their last 13 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
- Utes are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 neutral site games.
- Utes are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 Bowl games.
- Utes are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 games overall.
- Utes are 18-7-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
- Utes are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games in December.
- Utes are 44-21-2 ATS in their last 67 non-conference games.
- Mountaineers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games after accumulating more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Mountaineers are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss.
- Mountaineers are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Mountaineers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
- Mountaineers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up loss of more than 20 points.
- Mountaineers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
- Mountaineers are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games on grass.
- Mountaineers are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Mountaineers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 bowl games.
- Mountaineers are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games in December.
- Mountaineers are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.
- Mountaineers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Bowl games.
- Under is 5-1 in Utes last 6 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points.
- Over is 4-1 in Utes last 5 games overall.
- Under is 4-1 in Utes last 5 games on grass.
- Under is 4-1 in Utes last 5 games following a ATS win.
- Under is 4-1 in Utes last 5 games after accumulating more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Over is 5-2 in Utes last 7 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Under is 5-2 in Utes last 7 non-conference games.
- Over is 9-4 in Utes last 13 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
- Over is 3-0-1 in Mountaineers last 4 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Under is 7-1 in Mountaineers last 8 games in December.
- Under is 6-1 in Mountaineers last 7 games after allowing more than 40 points in their previous game.
- Over is 6-1 in Mountaineers last 7 games following a straight up loss.
- Under is 5-1-1 in Mountaineers last 7 games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- Over is 5-1-1 in Mountaineers last 7 games on grass.
- Over is 4-1-1 in Mountaineers last 6 non-conference games.
- Over is 4-1-1 in Mountaineers last 6 neutral site games.
- Under is 25-10 in Mountaineers last 35 games after allowing more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
