No. 19 Utah began the Foster Farms Bowl in just about the worst way possible with a fumble on the opening kickoff and a quick touchdown for Indiana less than a minute later. The Utes rallied behind some good defense and a couple of big plays down the field however and managed to head into halftime tied at 17-all.
Tailback Joe Williams once again powered the way for the offense and finished with 53 yards and a score on the ground while adding another 56 in the passing game as the result of an excellent screen play. He took some of the heat off quarterback Troy Williams (8-of-17, 131 yards) and his backup in freshman Tyler Huntley, who saw significant action in a series of sub-packages and scored a rushing touchdown off a keeper in a different look in the red zone.
Indiana’s offense struggled for most of the half despite punching it into the end zone on that initial possession. The team punted three times after short drives and fumbled twice, including once in the red zone, to allow their opponents back into the game and managed just a field goal despite a first and goal situation following a 53 yard catch and run from Ricky Jones.
The Hoosiers did make things interesting late in the second though, getting their own backup quarterback involved as Zander Diamont came in and tossed a perfect touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook from 36 yards out to tie things up.
The Foster Farms Bowl was always one of those postseason games that was pegged as a potential wild one given how the two offenses operate and the fact that both defenses were fairly stout during the year. If both teams can hang onto the ball in the second half, things could get very interesting out in the Bay Area.