Utah runs past Mountaineers in Heart of Dallas

DALLAS — Zach Moss took a third-down handoff and quickly burst through the line and into an opening in the middle of the field. Utah was off and running to another bowl victory.

Moss ran for 150 yards, including a career-long 58-yard run for a touchdown on the Utes’ opening drive in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on way to a 30-14 win over West Virginia on Tuesday. They are now 11-1 in postseason games under Kyle Whittingham, who matched Alabama’s Nick Saban for the most bowl wins by an active coach.

“He knows how to coach the team, and he always caps the year off right,” Utah sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley said.

Huntley scored twice, both on 2-yard keepers, but they led for good in their fifth straight bowl victory after Moss broke free on a drizzly and chilly day in Cotton Bowl Stadium.

“It was very important for us to come out of the gates with a big play early on and set the tone,” said Moss, who like Huntley still has two seasons left with the Utes (7-6).

West Virginia (7-6) finished the season with its third straight loss. The Mountaineers had only 153 total yards without junior quarterback Will Grier, who broke a finger Nov. 18, and 1,000-yard rusher Justin Crawford, a senior who bypassed the bowl game in advance of the NFL draft.

“It was a pretty disappointing loss to end a pretty disappointing season,” Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen said.

Duke 36, N. Illinois 14: Daniel Jones threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Duke beat Northern Illinois in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit.

Jones finished with 338 yards of offense, while Shaun Wilson and Brittain Brown added touchdowns for Duke (7-6). Marcus Childers threw for 234 yards and a score for Northern Illinois (8-5).

The Blue Devils took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, sandwiching rushing touchdowns around a failed Northern Illinois fake punt on 4th-and-18 from their own 11.

The Huskies had two first downs and 46 yards in the quarter, but tied the game with two scores in the first 2:38 of the second. Duke, though, moved back into a 26-14 lead with two touchdowns before halftime.

Jones fumbled on the first possession of the second half, but Northern Illinois turned the ball back over after a failed fake field goal.