| Game Name: | Heart of Dallas Bowl |
| Subheader: | 8th Heart of Dallas Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | Zaxby's |
| Date Game Played: | December 26 |
| Year Game Played: | 2017 |
| Football Season: | 2017 |
| Stadium: | Cotton Bowl |
| City: | Dallas, Texas |
| Visitor School: | University of Utah |
| Visitor Name Short: | Utah |
| Visitor Nickname: | Utes |
| Visitor Record: | 6–6 |
| Visitor Conference: | Pac-12 |
| Visitor Coach: | Kyle Whittingham |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 13 |
| Home School: | West Virginia University |
| Home Name Short: | West Virginia |
| Home Nickname: | Mountaineers |
| Home Record: | 7–5 |
| Home Conference: | Big 12 Conference |
| Home Coach: | Dana Holgorsen |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 8 |
| Mvp: | Julian Blackmon (CB, Utah) |
| Referee: | Jeff Maconaghy (ACC) |
| Attendance: | 20,507 |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Roy Philpott, Rene Ingoglia, Kris Budden |
| Different Next: | 2018 |
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.
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]
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.
See also: 2017 Utah Utes football team and 2017 Pac-12 Conference football season.
See also: 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers football team and 2017 Big 12 Conference football season.
| 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 | 12/26, 165 yds | |
| Rushing | 20 car, 150 yds, 1 TD | ||
| Receiving | Darren Carrington II | 4 rec, 62 yds | |
| West Virginia | Passing | 9/28, 129 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT | |
| Rushing | Kennedy McCoy | 14 car, 31 yds | |
| Receiving | 3 rec, 66 yds |
The game was broadcast by ESPN, and kicked off at 1:30 p.m. ET.