It’s the Pac-12 versus the Big-12 when the Utah Utes go to war with the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl in the Cotton Bowl. The match-up is going to get underway on Tuesday, December 26th at 1:30 p.m. EST. The intriguing showdown can be watched on ESPN for some early afternoon football entertainment. As of this preview, the Utes are -6.5 point favorites and the game’s total is now at 57.5.
The Utah Utes enter this game in the Cotton Bowl with a mediocre 6-6 record. After winning their first four games of the season, Utah had some injury troubles at the quarterback position. As a result, the Utes struggled to put points on the board and lost six of their next eight contests. The Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl will be the Utes fourth consecutive bowl game. Utah has captured victories in their last three post-season contests.
The West Virginia Mountaineers come into this bowl showdown with a 7-5 overall record. Basically, the Mountaineers beat the lower echelon clubs that they should have and were defeated by the bigger named opponents. This will be West Virginia’s third straight bowl appearance in the last three years. They actually played two bowl games in 2016, one in January and then again in December going 1-1 down that stretch.
Utah Utes (6-6)
The Utah Utes finished the year just 3-6 in Pac-12 play. That record placed them at second to last in the South Division. Last time they took the gridiron, Utah jumped out to a commanding 28-0 lead over the Colorado Buffaloes and never looked back. In all, Utah had an impressive 491-319 advantage in total yards. They also racked up 29 first downs while only allowing 17. When the dust had settled, the Utes found themselves up 34-13 and bowl eligible.
The quarterback position has been a bit of a mystery for the Utes in 2017. Because of that, their offense continued to suffer as their season moved forward. Starting quarterback Tyler Huntley looked good in his first four starts to the year. Unfortunately, he suffered a severe concussion and had to sit out the next to games.
Tyler Huntley has been back under center for the last four games and has done okay as the starter under center. The dual-threat player has completed 187 passes for 2,246 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 picks. He also has scrambled for another 480 yards and another four trips to the promised land.
Without a consistent passing attack, Utah has looked to their running game to keep opposing offenses off the field. Tailback Zac Moss contributed well, tallying just over 1,000 yards on 194 carries and nine trips to pay-dirt. Combined with Tyler Huntley, Utah’s running game finished 70th in the nation, bringing in 161 yards per game.
Wide receiver Darren Carrington II is the receiving corps for the Utes offense. He also got bit by a bit of the injury bug and his stats reflect just that. In the first three games before getting hurt, Carrington II was off and running. He had already racked up 26 receptions and over 300 yards of offense. Altogether, the shifty wideout captured 66 passes for 918 yards and six touchdowns.
The Utes seem to always field a top-20 defense but this year they were a little off in that department too. Even so, Utah still could consider the year a success on that side of the football. The secondary finished 54th in the FBS, surrendering 216 yards a contest. Overall, the unit allowed 23 points a game which was good for 42nd in the country.
West Virginia Mountaineers (7-5)
West Virginia didn’t put up much of a fight in their last two games against Texas and Oklahoma. Then again, they didn’t have their star quarterback under center for either of those two battles. To make matters worse, it appears that Will Grier will also miss the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl with a broken finger on his throwing hand. He was pretty good through nine games, connecting on 64 percent of his throws for almost 3,500 yards with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Now, backup Chris Chugunov will once again be at the helm against the Utah Utes. In his last outing, the sophomore only threw for 137 yards with no touchdowns and no picks.
The running game will certainly be called upon to make up for their loss at the gunslinger position. Justin Crawford and Kennedy McCoy will need to really step it up to keep the offense matriculating in the right direction. Together, the two backs have toted the rock 321 times for 1,630 yards and 14 scores. Crawford leads the two with 1,060 yards and both have seven touchdowns.
Obviously, the wide receiving corp also took a huge hit when Will Grier went down with his broken finger. Even so, West Virginia has four capable receivers to help their new face under center along. The foursome was productive, catching 244 passes for well over 3,500 yards. Davis Sills V is a touchdown machine, reaching the back of the end zone 18 times. Gary Jennings is their possession guy, catching a team-high 94 passes for over 1,000 yards.
Defense and West Virginia shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence. That’s because the Mountaineers stunk it up in 2017, finishing 111th in the country in total defense (452 ypg). The back half struggles to stop other school’s passing attacks, sitting 101st in the nation (247 ypg). The run-stop unit didn’t fare much better, surrendering 204 yards a game (104th). Those stats fully explain why West Virginia gave up nearly 32 points a match this season.
Prediction
With the injury to Will Grier at quarterback, it’s no wonder that Sin City placed the Utah Utes as a -7 point favorite. It’s obvious that the Mountaineers struggled to get the passing game going without him under center. Also, Utah looked pretty good in their last two contests so the line makes sense to me. The oddsmakers also have this over/under at 57.5 points. Partly because of what I mentioned above and partly because the Mountaineers don’t play defense.
For me, this is an easy call. I think that the West Virginia offense will show some improvement because of the extra snaps in practice for Chris Chugunov. With that being said, I don’t think it’s enough to keep the Mountaineers on pace with the Utah offense. Buy the -7 down to -6.5 for a little security and take the Utes to win their fifth-straight bowl game. @EriktheHun
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Trends
The Utes are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 bowl games.
The Under is 5-2 in the Utes last 7 non-conference games.
The Mountaineers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Bowl games.
The Over is 4-1-1 in the Mountaineers last 6 neutral site games.
