New Era Pinstripe Bowl Rutgers vs ND 2013

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 Syracuse against West Virginia, a game won by the Orange (Syracuse), 38-14! The teams play for the George M. Steinbrenner Trophy! The Conference tie-ins are the AAC & the Big 12 & the New Era Pinstripe Bowl Payout is … $2,000,000.00

Teams:Rutgers: Conference Affiliation: AAC; Overall Record 6-6, Conference Record 3-3  ….  vs …. Notre Dame:   Conference Affiliation: Independent; Overall Record 8-4!

Bowl Location: New York, New York @ Yankee Stadium, the seating capacity @ the facility is 52,328. Last year’s game which featured Syracuse and West Virginia, was attended by 39,098 or 75% of Yankee Stadium’s capacity.

Day, Date & Time: Saturday, 12/28/2013 @ 11:00 a.m. CST

Network: ESPN

Best Win(s): Rutgers: Did not beat a Bowl eligible team ND: beat Southern Cal 10-4, ASU 10-3, & MSU 12-1!

Worst Losses: Rutgers: U-Conn 28-17 ND: Pitt 28-21

Common Opponents: None

Las Vegas Hotsheet Favorite: ND -15.5

Offensive Team Data: Rutgers ; Total Yards,  368 YPG; Passing Yards,  239 YPG;  Rushing Yards,  129 YPG; Scoring Average, 29 PPG, Turnovers,  2.31 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 34.6%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 78% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 59%

Offensive Team Data: Notre Dame ; Total Yards,  395 YPG; Passing Yards, 248 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 147 YPG; Scoring Average  28 PPG, Turnovers,  1.23 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 44%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 78% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 55%

Defensive Team Data: Rutgers; Total Yards,  402 YPG; Passing Yards,  305 YPG;  Rushing Yards,  97 YPG; Scoring Average,  28 PPG, Turnovers,  1 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 43.4%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 86% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 70%

Defensive Team Data: Notre Dame ; Total Yards,  368 YPG; Passing Yards,  201 YPG;  Rushing Yards,  167 YPG; Scoring Average,  22 PPG, Turnovers,  1.23 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 41%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 83% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 57%

Sully’s CFP Game Simulator is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will preform, 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 ND’s total yards on offense, add it to what Rutgers 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 Rutgers’s total offense, add it to what the Irish give 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, ND…. 399 to 368

Passing Yards: Advantage, ND …. 277 to 220

Rushing Yards: Advantage, Rutgers…. 148 to 122

Scoring: Advantage, ND …. 28 to 26

Turnovers: Advantage,  ND… 43.7 to 37.8

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage, .ND.. 1.115 to 1.77

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage, ND... 82% to 81%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage, ND… 63% to 58%

Individuals to Watch: Rutgers: QB Gary Nova, 2159 Passing Yards, 18 TD’s & 14 INT’s & WR Paul James, 146 Rushing Attempts, 833 rushing yards, & 9TD’s; ND: Tommy Rees, 2938 passing yards , 27 TD’s & 13 INT’s & TJ Jones 65 receptions, 1042 receiving yards, & 9 TD’s!

Sully Says: The Irish win … but do not cover!