Utah to play Big Ten's Northwestern in Holiday Bowl

SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah football program will ring in the new year with a bowl game in a much warmer climate.

Coming off a heartbreaking 10-3 loss to Washington in the Pac-12 Championship game in Santa Clara, California, Friday, Utah was selected to play in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl Sunday, which will be played on Dec. 31.

The Utes, which were ranked No. 17 in the final College Football Playoff rankings Sunday, will be paired up with Big Ten runner-up No. 22 Northwestern, who fell 45-24 to Ohio State Saturday in the Big Ten Championship game. The Wildcats finished the season with an 8-5 record to claim the West Division in their conference.

The two programs have met two times previously, with the last game being played in 1981 — a 42-0 road win in favor of the Utes. The series between the two programs is tied, with Northwestern claiming the first game in 1927 in a 13-6 win.

It’s the first time Utah has been selected to play in the Holiday Bowl, despite it being a former WAC affiliated bowl game. Northwestern, too, has never appeared in the Holiday Bowl and will make their first appearance in San Diego.

"We are elated to be invited to the Holiday Bowl and to play an outstanding team," head coach Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. "It is a testament to our players and also our great fan base that were were invited to play in this prestigious game.

"Our players are deserving to play in a bowl of this caliber and we are especially happy for our exceptional senior class," he continued. "We look forward to playing in front of a big Utah crowd down in San Diego on Dec. 31."

As a linebacker while at BYU, Whittingham played in the first four Holiday Bowls (1978-81). Whittingham was named the Defensive MVP in the 1981 bowl and was later inducted into the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame in 2008.

Whittingham holds the nation's best bowl-winning percentage for his 11-1 record all time, and is tied for second among all active coaches with 11 bowl wins. In total, Whittingham as a head coach has made up for nearly 60 percent of all bowl games in Utah history.

Junior receiver Demari Simpkins said he's grateful for another opportunity to play a game, particularly with the bad taste left in the team's mouth after the Pac-12 Championship loss. He said it's nice to not have to worry about even making a bowl game this year.

"I'm always glad for the opportunity to play with these guys," Simpkins said. "It's funny because thinking back to last year, we struggled to even make a bowl game. It was up to a point where we had to win one more game just to make a bowl game, and that wasn't the case this year.

"We played good enough, well enough, and we played together as a family, as a team, and it was pretty easy for us to make a bowl game. So I'm blessed, and we are blessed to play this game."

Mark Harlan, Utah’s director of athletics, tweeted Saturday that he was working with the conference and the bowls to place Utah in a favorable bowl, and one in which Utah fans could show their ability to travel and represent the team in a final game of the season, most likely the Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl.

“We are & have been hitting the phones hard with our bowl partners,” Harlan tweeted. “Conference rule allows for teams with one league lose behind in standings to be eligible for Alamo, Holiday and Redbox so lots of teams in the mix. I have stated that Utah fans will travel to support this team!”

The bowl game will be played at the SDCCU Stadium in San Diego on Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on FS1. Fans can purchase tickets through the university on their ticketing website or on the Holiday Bowl website.

This article will be updated.

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