Syracuse (7-5, 4-3 Big East) vs. Kansas State (7-5, 3-5 Big 12)
December 30, 2010 3:20 PM EST ESPN
History: The New Era Pinstripe Bowl is history-less! 2010 will be the first year that the game is played, so Syracuse and Kansas State have the opportunity to go down in the records books as “first winner” or “first loser” in this contest. The Pinstripe Bowl will be played in new Yankee Stadium, becoming only the second football game to be played in the House that replaced the House That Ruth Built (Army and Notre Dame faced off just a few weeks ago on November 30th for their annual matchup). There is some historical parallelism to the venue for Syracuse, as the Orange(men) competed in the first-ever game played at old Yankee Stadium, a 3-0 victory over Pittsburgh.
The Pinstripe Bowl has been designed to match a team from the Big East against a team from the Big 12, with Notre Dame serving as a replacement for the Big 12 if no teams from the Big 12 are available. Thus, one result of the conference defections this year is that Notre Dame’s chances to play in the Pinstripe Bowl may have gone up! The game will be the first bowl played in New York City since the far-cooler named Gotham Bowl was played at old Yankee Stadium in 1962. The Bat-suit has been replaced by pinstripes. Shame.
Not surprisingly, the website for the Pinstripe Bowl makes special mention of the fact that “unlike other baseball stadiums-turned football – Wrigley Field, for example – the dimensions at Yankee Stadium allow for a great viewing experience, even in the upper deck.”
Syracuse: Syracuse last appeared in a bowl game in 2004 when they defeated Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl by a score of 51-14. The team returns to bowl action under the leadership of second-year coach Doug Marrone, a Syracuse grad who has fulfilled a long-held ambition by becoming the head coach of the Orange. The highlight of the Big East season for the team was a 19-14 victory over West Virginia in Morgantown, but overall Syracuse closed things out poorly in conference play, dropping three of their last four.
Syracuse’s strength is clearly their defense, which ranked among the best in the country this year and only gave up an average of 18 points per game. Linebackers Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue form a good tandem for the Orange D, which is especially interesting given that Hogue was transformed from a running back into a linebacker during his time with the team. The offense is somewhat less effective, as it only scored a total of 23 points in the team’s last three games of the season. While that may be a winning formula in a conference like the Big Ten, it probably isn’t going to cut it against the Wildcats. If the Orange are going to get it going in this game, they’ll be relying on quarterback Ryan Nassib, who threw for 16 touchdowns on the season, and running back Delone Carter, who broke 1000 yards rushing for the year.
Kansas State: Kansas State has also been absent from bowl play the past few years, last earning a bid in 2006 to the Texas Bowl, which resulted in a 37-10 loss to Rutgers. Unlike the ‘Cuse, the Wildcats are led by a long-tenured coach in Bill Snyder. Snyder boasts a record of 149-79-1 in his time at Kansas State
Running back Daniel Thomas is the focus of the offense for the Wildcats. Thomas had amost 1500 yards rushing to go along with his 16 touchdowns on the season, which included a 269-yard outburst in the final game of the season against North Texas. Quarterbacking duties are shared between Carson Coffman, the primary passer (1832 yards, 12 touchdowns), and former wideout Collin Klein, who is often used in quarterback run plays. The Wildcats are capable of putting up big scoring numbers when things are clicking.
The season started off well for Kansas State, with the team winning their first four games before falling to Nebraska. However, the trend reversed over the latter portion of the season and the team lost four of their final six games.
Who are we picking?
- Mali – Kansas State
- Joe – Kansas State
- Jim – Kansas State
- Eric – Syracuse
- Jeff – Kansas State
- Jay – Kansas State
Syracuse and Kansas State have previously faced each other in the context of a bowl game, first in 1997 at the Fiesta Bowl (a 35-18 Kansas State victory) and again in 2001 at the Insight.com Bowl (a 26-3 Syracuse victory). In this latest pairing, the majority vote is for the Wildcats to come away with the win on the strength of their running game overcoming the strength of Syracuse’s run defense. Carnivores over Fruit.
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