New Era Pinstripe Bowl

Bowl History: The New Era Pinstripe Bowl is brand new … the NCAA certified the Bowl September 30, 2010! The first game was played on December, 30, 2010 … Syracuse beat Kansas State, 36-34 and last years game featured Rutgers against Iowa State, a game won by the Scarlet Knight (Rutgers), 27-13! The teams play for the George M. Steinbrenner Trophy! The Conference tie-ins are the Big East & the Big 12 & the New Era Pinstripe Bowl Payout is … $2,000,000.00

Teams: Syracuse Conference Affiliation: Big East; Overall Record 7-5, Conference Record 5-2,  ….  vs …. West Virginia:   Conference Affiliation: Big 12; Overall Record 7-5, Conference Record: 4-5!

Bowl Location: New York, New York @ Yankee Stadium, the seating capacity @ the facility is 52,328. Last year’s game which featured Rutgers and Iowa State, was attended by 38,328 or 73.25% of Yankee Stadium’s capacity.

Day, Date, & Time Saturday, 12/29/2012 @ 2:15 p.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: Syracuse: Louisville 45-26 & Missouri 34-27,  West Virginia, Baylor 70-63, Texas 48-45, & Iowa State, 31-24!

Worst Losses: Syracuse: Cincinnati 35-24 & USC 42-29; West Virginia: Texas Tech 49-14, Oklahoma State 55-34, Kansas State 55-14, & Oklahoma 50-49!

Common Opponents: None

Las Vegas Hotsheet: Opened @ West Virginia -4 and is now at WV -3.5

Offensive Team Data: Syracuse: Total Yards, 473 YPG; Passing Yards, 301 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 173 YPG; Scoring Average 29 PPG, Turnovers, 1.67 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 49.2%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 83% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 64%

Offensive Team Data:West Virginia: Total Yards, 519 YPG; Passing Yards, 341 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 178 YPG; Scoring Average 42 PPG, Turnovers, 1.0 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 46.5%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 84% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 71%

Defensive Team Data: Syracuse: Total Yards, 385 YPG; Passing Yards, 237 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 148 YPG; Scoring Average 26 PPG, Turnovers, 1.5 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 38.6%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 86% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 59%

Defensive Team Data:West Virginia: Total Yards, 470 YPG; Passing Yards, 327 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 143 YPG; Scoring Average 38 PPG, Turnovers, 1.5 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 45.5%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 84% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 67%

Sully’s Game Simulator: is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will perform, based solely on their numbers, when they face off on the gridiron! Keep in mind, these stats were established against different teams and conferences and these differences must be taken into account to get a complete picture when attempting to predetermine a winner. If you are interested in how the Simulator works … read this part … if not … skip it! The process used is … we take Syracuse’s total yards on offense, add it to what West Virginia gives up on defense, …  get a total and then divide that number by 2 … to get the mean. We then invert the process by taking WV’s total offense, add it to what Syracuse gives up on defense, get a total and divide that number by 2  to get the second mean… the greater number (with the exception of Turnovers) is then determined to have the advantage ( please note …. statistical advantage). We repeat this process in each of the eight statistical categories assessed!  That said… here are the results of the Head to Head Analysis:

Total Yards:  Advantage Syracuse 472 to 452

Passing Yards: Advantage Syracuse 314 to 289

Rushing Yards: Advantage West Virginia 163 to 158

Scoring: Advantage West Virginia 34 to 33.5

Turnovers: Advantage West Virginia 1.25 to 1.59

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage Syracuse 47.35 to 42.55

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage West Virginia 85 to 84

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage Syracuse 66 to 65

Individuals to Watch: Syracuse: QB, Ryan Nassib, passed for 3,619 yards, 24 TD’s, 9 INT’s and completed 63% f his passes.  RB, Jerome Smith has rushed for 1,019 yards for an average of 5.1 yards per carry & 3 TD’s. WR, Alex Lemon has 70 receptions for 1,063 yards, with an average of 15.2 yards per catch, & 7 TD’s! West Virginia: QB, Geno Smith has passed for 4004 yards, 40 TD’s, 6 INT’s and completed 71% of his passes! WR-RB Tavon Austin, caught 110 passes for 1,259 yards, an average of 11.4 yards per catch, & 12 TD’s … he has also rushed for 598 yards on 61 carries averaging 9.8 yards per carry, & has scored 3 TD’s rushing!  Stedman Bailey has caught 106 passes for 1501 total yards and a reception average of 14.2 yards per catch … while scoring 23 TD’s.

Sully Says: First… Sully’s CFP Game Simulator says this game is a statistical tie .. that was somewhat of a surprise … given the numbers that WV puts up … even with the fact they play little to NO defense … I thought the Mountaineers would so out perform Syracuse on offense that they could / would mask their defensive deficiencies … did not happen! Put simply … Syracuse is better statistically than I realized! The Orange are all so battle tested …took on USC … Big Ten’s … Northwestern (41-40 loss) & Minnesota (17-10 loss) … before you say … BIG TEN with disgust … both these teams (Northwestern & Minnesota) have played their way into bowls and Minnesota gave Texas Tech a real battle, 34-31, before falling in the final seconds of that game.   Texas Tech has the nation’s second ranked passing offense .. no one questions their skills. Minnesota looked like a bowl worthy team last night!  Yet ….  how does the Syracuse defense slow down Smith, Austin, & Bailey … USC is similar to WV … great wide outs (Lee & Woods) & great QB (Barkley) … SC won that game 42-29 … Sully’s CFP Says … West Virginia wins and covers the 3.5