Who Are The Utes?
Getting to know WVU’s Heart of Dallas opponent
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- When members of the selection committee announced that West Virginia's opponent for the 2017 Zaxby Heart of Dallas Bowl would be the University of Utah, the first thing many Mountaineers asked was 'What is a Ute?'
Question asked and answered.
Wikipedia tells us the Ute people are Native Americans of the Ute tribe and culture. They are now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. The Ute are in the Great Basin classification of Indigenous People.
They have three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah (3,500 members); Southern Ute in Colorado (1,500 members); and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico (2,000 members). The majority of Ute are believed to live on one of these reservations. The State of Utah is named after these people.
But, the only Utes that West Virginia fans want to know about are the ones playing football for veteran head coach Kyle Whittingham.
The Pac-12 member comes into Tuesday's 1:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPN with a 6-6 overall mark, but the best bowl-winning percentage in FBS history.
With his 10-1 bowl record, Whittingham owns the best bowl win percentage (91 percent) in NCAA history. Whittingham's postseason victories include a 2-0 mark in College Football Playoff bowls (2005 Fiesta Bowl vs. Pittsburgh as co-head coach and 2009 Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama).
Utah is 4-0 in bowl games since joining the Pac-12 Conference in 2011 and has won all nine of the bowl games it played in from 1999-2009 to tie for the second-longest bowl win streak in NCAA history.
And, the Utes manhandled WVU in its only other meeting -- the 1965 Liberty Bowl.
"(Beating WVU) would be a good way to send the seniors out," Whittingham said. "We won our last home game, so we check that box, now it is an opportunity to send them out with a winning record and positive bowl experience. That would be big."
Offensively, Utah ranks No. 46 nationally in total offense (417.7 ypg) and No. 57 in scoring offense (29.5 ppg). Sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley runs the show, averaging 249.6 yards per game and throwing 15 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
Senior Troy Williams, who has completed 60 of 110 attempts for 812 yards and two touchdowns, may also see time under center.
Sophomore Zack Moss leads the team in carries (194), net rushing yards (1,023), yards per game (85.2) and rushing touchdowns (9) while senior Darren Carrington II is the team's top receiver -- 918 yards, 66 receptions, 6 touchdowns.
The team's most dangerous weapon is Lou Groza Award winning placekicker Matt Gray. The junior has made 27 field goals on the season. His 87.1 percent (27 of 31) leads the Pac-12 and ranks 11th in the nation.
Defensively, the Utes rank No 110 in total defense (452.5 ypg) and No. 92 in scoring defense (31.6 ppg).
Numbers which might be misleading given the fact that they lost by only three points to Stanford (23-20), by one point to USC (28-27) and by three points to Washington (33-30).
"We got back on the practice field and we will hopefully get a few guys back that we were missing toward the end of the season," Whittingham said. "That will help us be better right there. But it just depends on how hard they work. The bowl record is what it is because of the past players work ethic. So far if you gauge it off today, these guys are in the same mindset as the groups before them."