The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Syracuse Orange are set to kick off the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday 12/29, and I’m set to make my Pinstripe Bowl pick for the affair at New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY. Kickoff is set for 3:15 ET, and I’ve got the perfect NCAA football pick for the Pinstripe Bowl.
2012 Pinstripe Bowl
West Virginia Mountaineers (7-5, 5-7 ATS) -3.5
Syracuse Orange (7-5, 6-5-1 ATS) +3.5
Over/Under 72.5
As bad as it is to take the ‘over’ in a game like this one, where seemingly everyone is betting the ‘over’, I still feel like I really don’t have all that much of a hope if I bet the ‘under’. Mother Nature is going to be featuring some snow in this one, but aside from the snow, the rest of the weather conditions really aren’t going to be all that bad. The temperatures are low, but wind shouldn’t be a factor, and it’s not like we’re going to see a mix of wind and rain that could really mess up the quarterbacks and the receivers.
The West Virginia offense is just flat out awesome. QB Geno Smith threw for 4,001 yards with 40 TDs on the season, and he added in some mobility as well. He has two of the top receivers in the entire country in WR Stedman Bailey and WR Tavon Austin. Austin even had a game where he rushed for over 200 yards this year, but in his main trade as a wide out, he caught 109 passes for 1,266 yards and 12 TDs. Bailey is the man at the head of the class though, as he caught 106 balls for 1,501 yards and an NCAA leading 23 TDs. RB Andrew Buie can get the ball moving on the ground, and WR J.D. Woods would be as good as a No. 2 receiver on most teams in the nation in spite of the fact that he is a third option here in Morgantown. On top of this, the West Virginia defense stopped virtually no one all season long, allowing 38.1 ponts and 469.6 yards per game.
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It’s not like Syracuse isn’t going to be able to take advantage of this. QB Ryan Nassib is an NFL caliber quarterback, and he almost quietly threw for 3,607 yards and 24 scores against nine INTs on the season. He and Smith are really largely the same quarterback. It’s not like Syracuse doesn’t have its share of receivers as well. WR Alec Lemon is incredibly talented, and WR Marcus Sales is an up and comer as well. These two men combined for 132 catches, 1,914 yards, and 15 scores this year. RB Jerome Smith and RB Prince-Tyson Gulley had 1,636 rushing yards and 10 scores as well between them. The bottom line here for me is that West Virginia is going to do its scoring, and Syracuse should be able to keep up. I think that this has the potential to be the highest scoring bowl game of the year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one tops 100 total points.
West Virginia vs. Syracuse Picks & Tips: Over 72.5
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