Primetime College Football: New Era Pinstripe Bowl
TALENT
This game goes down on the ESPN network and it features Kansas State University Wildcats taking on Syracuse University Orange in the first ever New Era Pinstripe Bowl and is taking place at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York.
Kansas State, 7-5, 3-5 Big 12, experienced an up and down year as they started the year 4-0 before losing convincingly to then No. 7 Nebraska. The Wildcats though lost four of the next five games in Big 12 play. Head coach Bill Snyder has the luxuary of having standout running back Daniel Thomas who was the engine that drove the Wildcats offense in 2010. The senior ranked 9th in the nation with 1,495 yards, placing him second among K-State’s single-season rushing leaders. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry and 124.6 per game while scoring 16 touchdowns. He needs just 58 yards to move into second place on the Kansas States all-time rushing list.
The quarterback position is manned by senior Carson Coffman, who threw for 1,832 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for another 9 in 11 games this season while throwing 7 interceptions and was efficient in completing 64.2 percent of his passes in his first season as the starter. However, while K-State ranked 20th in the country in rushing offense, the passing game stood 97th and wideout Aubrey Quarles was the lone player to post any sort of significant numbers on the receiving end.
Syracuse, 7-5, 4-3 Big East, took a step forward in 2010 and the height of the Orange’s season came on when it shocked then 20th-ranked West Virginia with a win in Morgantown. But the Orange finsihed out the season losing two of its last three games. Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone offense leans heavily on senior running back Delone Carter, who surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season. He averaged an impressive 5.1 yards per carry on his way to 1,035 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Ryan Nassib was at the head of a proficient if unspectacular passing attack that finished 92nd in the country. Nassib’s ended the year with 2,095 yards passing, 16 touchdowns, 8 interceptions and completed 56.1 percent of his throws. He was able to spread the ball around to a number of different receivers, most notably junior Van Chew, who led the team with 41 receptions, 611 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Syracuse owns a 12-9-1 record all-time in bowl games but will be the Orange’s first bowl since 2004. The Wildcats are 6-7 all-time in bowl competition.
PICK: Syracuse University Orange
