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In a baseball park in San Francisco, Troy Williams once watched BYU's Taysom Hill outplay Washington's quarterback in a losing effort in the Fight Hunger Bowl.

Williams was redshirting with the Huskies as a freshman during that 2013 season. Three years later, facing Indiana in a nearby pro football venue (Levi's Stadium) in the bowl game now sponsored by a poultry producer (Foster Farms), Williams is hoping for a satisfying ending of his first season as Utah's quarterback.

Or a good start of his 2017 season.

That's the irresistible angle of December for both Utah and BYU, with Tanner Mangum replacing the injured Hill vs. Wyoming in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.

Now that I've framed the games this way, Utah's Joe Williams and BYU's Jamaal Williams might run for 200 yards apiece in their last college games, making their quarterbacks an afterthought. Yet the way Troy Williams and Mangum play in California undoubtedly will shape our views of the Utes and Cougars during the long offseason.

The Utes could have played their way into the Rose Bowl vs. a more glamorous Big Ten team, but they're getting an opponent that competed well against teams that will appear in New Year's 6 games. The Hoosiers are good losers. That's a compliment.

Indiana trailed Ohio State just 24-17 in the third quarter on the road, led Penn State 31-28 in the fourth quarter and topped Michigan 10-6 in the third period. The Hoosiers lost those games, and their four conference victories came by a total of 17 points over downtrodden teams. But a team whose last bowl win came in 1991 will be eager to play, and Indiana's defense is decent, providing just enough of a test for Williams and the Ute offense.

Williams is coming off a 13-of-40 passing performance in a defeat at Colorado, which followed a loss to Oregon. Weird coincidence: His last pass of each game went for a touchdown. Williams had his moments this year, notably the game-winning drive vs. Rose Bowl contestant USC, but he labeled his overall play just "OK … not the season that I thought I would have."

Williams continued, "I'm looking to make a huge amount of improvement next year."

Utah's offense needs a good showing in what's left of 2016. Ute coach Kyle Whittingham has not ruled out staff changes; he dismissed his receivers coach after the Las Vegas Bowl win over BYU last December. In any case, the Utes hope to avoid taking a three-game losing streak into the winter for the first time sine 1987.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake inherited a three-game losing streak in bowl games, and now Mangum will make his first start under offensive coordinator Ty Detmer.

Something like this happened once in BYU history. Tom Young became a first-time starter in the 1992 Aloha Bowl after Ryan Hancock injured his knee late in the final regular-season game.

Young performed admirably in a 23-20 loss to Kansas, being named his team's MVP. John Walsh returned as BYU's quarterback the next season, though. Mangum's story is different. He started 12 games last year, including the Las Vegas Bowl, and presumably will hold the job for two more seasons.

In San Diego, Mangum will become the first Cougar quarterback to start multiple bowl games since Max Hall in 2007-09. Jake Heaps, Riley Nelson, James Lark, Hill, Christian Stewart and Mangum have staffed BYU's last six postseason contests. Lark is the most recent winner, having beaten San Diego State in the 2012 Poinsettia Bowl — with a lot of help from linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who scored two touchdowns in a 23-6 victory.

Mangum appeared in three November games, so he's not totally coming in cold. This should be a good restarting point for him, facing a Wyoming defense that ranks 112th in the country in yardage and has allowed 33 or more points five times.

Mangum's 2015 bowl experience started horribly, as Utah took a 35-0 lead in the first quarter. He finished well, with a touchdown run that cut the lead to 35-28. But the Cougars never got the ball back. A year later, he'll have another chance.

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