Game Notes: Indiana vs. #19 Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl

Game Notes: Indiana vs. #19 Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl

12/20/2016 4:17:00 PM | Football

Setting The Scene
•Indiana (6-6, 4-5 B1G East) faces No. 19 Utah (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12 South) in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST at Levi's Stadium (68,500; Tifway II) and FOX will televise the game.
•The Hoosiers are appearing in consecutive bowl games for the first time since 1990-91 and the third time in school history (1986-87, 1987-88, 1990-91), while making their 11th overall appearance.
•IU fell to Duke in the 2016 New Era Pinstripe Bowl, 44-41 in overtime, on Dec. 26.
•Indiana trails the all-time series against Utah, 2-1, with a 31-7 (H) victory on Sept. 27, 1975 and defeats on Sept. 22, 2001 (28-26) in Bloomington and on Sept. 7, 2002 (40-13) in Salt Lake City.
•The Hoosiers last squared off against a Pac-12 foe in 2004, a 30-24 win at No. 24 Oregon.
•IU has met one Pac-12 opponent in a bowl game - Southern California in the 1968 Rose Bowl.
•This marks Indiana's third bowl game in California - the 1968 Rose Bowl and the 1979 Holiday Bowl vs. BYU.
•The Hoosiers will be playing in The Golden State for the sixth time overall. In addition to the two postseason games, IU has traveled to USC twice (1953, 1982) and California once (1970).
•IU's lone victory in the state came in the 1979 Holiday Bowl, 38-37, over the ninth-ranked Cougars.

The Coaches
•Tom Allen will make his debut as a head coach at the Foster Farms Bowl. He was named Indiana University's 29th head coach on Dec. 1, 2016. The New Castle, Ind., native joined the IU staff as associate head coach/defense on Jan. 15, 2016. A Broyles Award nominee, Allen engineered one of the top defensive turnarounds in the country, as the Hoosiers improved in every major statistical category. Indiana held its opponents to 136.9 fewer total yards and 93.6 fewer passing yards vs. 2015, the largest improvement in the country in both categories. IU limited its foes to 10.3 fewer points, which ranks sixth nationally. Allen led a program record six defensive players to All-Big Ten honors.
•Kyle Whittingham is in his 12th season as Utah head coach. Whittingham (103-50; .673) is the second-winningest coach in school history and has won more games than any Utah coach in the last 68 years. He is 9-1 in 10 bowl appearances and his .900 winning percentage ranks first all-time in the NCAA.

News & Notes
•Indiana earned its fourth straight Old Oaken Bucket victory, tied for the longest streak in program history (1944-47), with its win over Purdue in the regular season finale.
•IU owns the Old Oaken Bucket and the Old Brass Spittoon (24-21 overtime victory over Michigan State) in the same year for just the fifth time (1967, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2016).
•The Hoosiers finished the regular season 6-6 and 4-5 in the Big Ten East. It is the 11th time in school history Indiana has recorded back-to-back years with six-or-more wins and the first time since 1993-94.
•It is the 16th time Indiana has reached four Big Ten victories and the first time since 2001 (4-4). The four conference wins are tied for the eighth-most in program history.
•IU has faced four top 10 opponents and will meet six ranked opponents for the second time in program history (2003).

All-American
•Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Dan Feeney was named an Associated Press first team All-American.
•On the heels of first team ESPN.com honors in 2015, Feeney is just the fourth player and first offensive lineman in program history to be recognized as a two-time first team All-American and just the third to earn first team honors in back-to-back seasons: Anthony Thompson (1988-89), John Isenbarger (1967-68) and Pete Pihos (1943, '45).
•Junior linebacker Tegray Scales (SI.com) collected second team All-America honors.
•Scales became the first Indiana linebacker to receive All-America recognition since 1987 (Van Waiters).
•This marks the third straight year (5 honorees) at least one Hoosier has made his way on to an All-America team: 2015 - Feeney and current Packers offensive lineman Jason Spriggs (1st team); 2014 - current Falcons running back Tevin Coleman (unanimous and consensus selection).

All-Big Ten
•Indiana matched 2015's program record with 12 standouts recognized by the Big Ten.
•Offensive lineman Dan Feeney led the way with first team honors from the coaches and media.
•Redshirt junior cornerback Rashard Fant and junior linebacker Tegray Scales earned second team accolades.
•Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Ralph Green III, redshirt junior linebacker Marcus Oliver, sophomore safety Jonathan Crawford and true freshman husky Marcelino Ball received honorable mention recognition.
•The six defensive honorees are a school record.
•Fifth-year senior wide receivers Ricky Jones and Mitchell Paige, redshirt junior quarterback Richard Lagow, junior running back Devine Redding and sophomore wide receiver NIck Westbrook also carded honorable mention.
•Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Jacob Bailey was Indiana's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.

Freshman Honors
•Husky Marcelino Ball and left tackle Coy Cronk were named to the 247Sports True Freshman All-American team.
•Nine freshmen have garnered All-America honors and 29 have netted freshman All-Big Ten recognition since 2011.
•Five IU freshmen were recognized on 2016 All-Big Ten Freshman teams.
•Ball and Cronk made the ESPN.com and BTN.com teams.
•True freshman running back Tyler Natee, true freshman cornerback A'Shon Riggins and redshirt freshman kick returner Devonte Williams earned honorable mention from BTN.com.

Academic All-Big Ten
•Sixteen Indiana students earned Academic All-Big Ten honors: Johnny Albomonte (1st recognition), Ben Bach (1st), Jacob Bailey (4th), Joshua Brown (1st), Andre Brown, Jr. (1st), Austin Dorris (1st), Chris Gajcak (1st), Tyler Green (1st), Isaac James (1st), Arthur Jones (3rd), Hunter Littlejohn (1st), Wes Martin (2nd), Jacob Robinson (1st), Wes Rogers (1st), Ryan Watercutter (1st) and Nick Westbrook (1st).
•Since 2011, a six-year program record 127 Hoosiers have carded Academic-All-Big Ten recognition.

News & Notes II
•LB Tegray Scales is 1st in the B1G in tackles (116; T-17th nationally), solo stops (87; 1st), and tackles for loss (20.5; T-4th).
•The junior's eight double-figure tackle games put him 1st in the league (T-3rd nationally).
•LB Marcus Oliver holds the program record and is the NCAA active leader with 12 career forced fumbles.
•The redshirt junior (112 in 2015) and Scales are the first Hoosiers to record back-to-back 100-tackle seasons since 1996-98.
•CB Rashard Fant leads the Big Ten in pass breakups (17, 2nd nationally) and passes defended (19, T-3rd). The redshirt junior is also T-1st in the NCAA among active players with 47 career passes defended (Damontae Kazee, SDSU).
•IU is 4th in the Big Ten in third down percentage (31.9, 13th nationally), tied for 4th in defensive TDs (2, T-37th), 5th in TFLs (89, T-20th) and passing efficiency defense (117.3, 23rd), tied for 5th in interceptions (12), 6th in takeaways (19) and fumble recoveries (7), and tied for 6th in sacks (28).
•Over its last six games, Indiana has recorded 19 sacks and 63 tackles for loss.
•The Hoosiers are 2nd in the Big Ten in passing offense (277.9, 25th nationally), 3rd in total offense (433.1) and yards per completion (13.5, 35th), 4th in completion percentage (59.6) and passing efficiency (133.8) and 5th in first downs (257).
•IU is the only Big Ten team with three players in the top 13 in yardage and receptions: Nick Westbrook (915-3rd; 49-T-9th), Ricky Jones (783-9th; 50-T-7th) and Mitchell Paige (604-13th; 54-4th).
•Devine Redding is the 4th Hoosier (5th time) with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and the 1st since Vaughn Dunbar (1990-91). Courtney Snyder (1974-75) and Anthony Thompson (1987-88, 1988-89) round out the quartet.