2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl

The 2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 26, 2017, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. The 8th edition of the Heart of Dallas Bowl, it was sponsored by fast food chicken restaurant Zaxby's, and was officially known as the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl.

2017 Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl
8th Heart of Dallas Bowl
Utah Utes West Virginia Mountaineers (6–6) (7–5) Pac-12 Big 12 Conference 30 14 Head coach:  Kyle Whittingham Head coach:  Dana Holgorsen
1 2 3 4 Total Utah 7 10 0 13 30 West Virginia 0 3 3 8 14
Date	December 26, 2017
Season	2017
Stadium	Cotton Bowl
Location	Dallas, Texas
MVP	Julian Blackmon (CB, Utah)[1]
Referee	Jeff Maconaghy (ACC)
Attendance	20,507
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Roy Philpott, Rene Ingoglia, Kris Budden
Heart of Dallas Bowl  < 2016  2018 >

The game featured the Utah Utes from the Pac-12 Conference against the West Virginia Mountaineers from the Big 12 Conference. Utah defeated West Virginia, 30–14.^[1]

Team selection

The game featured conference tie-ins with teams from Conference USA and the Big 12 Conference. However, the bowl instead invited a team from the Pac-12 Conference. This was the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with the first occurring in the 1964 Liberty Bowl. It was the first Heart of Dallas Bowl for each team.

Utah

See also: 2017 Utah Utes football team and 2017 Pac-12 Conference football season

West Virginia

See also: 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers football team and 2017 Big 12 Conference football season

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Utah WVU 1 11:37 4 83 1:38 Utah Zack Moss 58-yard touchdown run, Matt Gay kick good 7 0 2 13:09 11 67 4:29 WVU 28-yard field goal by Evan Staley 7 3 2 5:46 3 13 1:19 Utah Tyler Huntley 2-yard touchdown run, Matt Gay kick good 14 3 2 1:08 9 56 3:12 Utah 29-yard field goal by Matt Gay 17 3 3 6:43 4 0 1:02 WVU 26-yard field goal by Evan Staley 17 6 4 13:59 7 39 2:35 Utah Tyler Huntley 2-yard touchdown run, Matt Gay kick good 24 6 4 11:38 4 7 1:38 Utah 26-yard field goal by Matt Gay 27 6 4 4:15 8 20 4:03 Utah 24-yard field goal by Matt Gay 30 6 4 1:58 5 67 2:17 WVU Ka'Raun White 18-yard touchdown reception from Chris Chugunov, 2-point pass good 30 14 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 30 14

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utes	7	10	0	13	30
Mountaineers	0	3	3	8	14

Statistics	Utah	WVU
First downs	19	6
Plays–yards	80	51
Rushes–yards	53–197	21–29
Passing yards	165	124
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	12–27–0	10–30–2
Time of possession	38:34	21:26

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Utah	Passing	Tyler Huntley	12/26, 165 yds
	Rushing	Zack Moss	20 car, 150 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Darren Carrington II	4 rec, 62 yds
West Virginia	Passing	Chris Chugunov	9/28, 129 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Kennedy McCoy	14 car, 31 yds
	Receiving	Gary Jennings	3 rec, 66 yds

Media

The game was broadcast by ESPN, and kicked off at 1:30 p.m. ET.