The Bronx plays host to the 2011 New Era Pinstripe Bowl on December 30th. The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers take on the Iowa State Cyclones on the turf of Yankee Stadium. This will be the second time Rutgers has played in Yankee Stadium this season. Rutgers played Army on November 12th in the Bronx and came out with a 27-12 victory.
The Scarlet Knights went 4-3 in Big East Conference play and finished 8-4 overall. Rutgers played in 5 games this season that were decided by 3-points or less, going 3-2 in those contests. Iowa State went 3-6 in the Big 12 and 6-6 overall. The Cyclones biggest win was a double overtime thriller against Oklahoma State on November 18th, the only loss on the season for the Cowboys. Rutgers and Iowa State had one common opponent this season. Both schools played UConn this year with Iowa State pulling out a 24-20 victory and Rutgers getting beat 40-22.
When Rutgers is on Offense
The Scarlet Knights have the 65th best scoring offense in the country at 26.3 points per game. Rutgers is a pass heavy offense with 245.0 yards passing and only 91.5 yards rushing per game. Gary Nova and Chas Dodd split time at quarterback this year with similar results. When they drop back to throw they are usually looking in the direction of Mohamed Sanu. With 109 catches and 1144 yards its no secret that Sanu is the focus of the Rutgers offense.
Iowa State gave up a lot of points this season. The Cyclones’ defense ranks 83rd in the nation allowing an average of 29.6 points per game. With only 17 sacks all season long it’s obvious that the Cyclones have a difficult time rushing the passer. They will need to find ways to create a pass rush against the pass happy Scarlet Knights.
When Iowa State is on Offense
The Cyclones’ offense averaged only 23.5 points per game this season. Steele Jantz started the season at quarterback but was replaced part way through by freshman Jared Barnett. Neither quarterback put up great numbers this season completing less than 55% of their passes and throwing the same number of touchdowns and interceptions. Barnett is a better runner than Jantz and was able to cause matchup problems with his legs. Sophomore running back James White ran for 701 yards on 4.7 yards per carry this season.
Rutgers’ defense played extremely well this season and helped keep the Scarlet Knights in a lot of football games. Their defense ranked 12th in the nation allowing only 18.8 points per game. The aggressive Scarlet Knights defense had 33 sacks and came up with 17 interceptions.
2011 New Era Pinstripe Bowl Pick Against the Spread
Oddsmakers currently have Rutgers favored by 2-points over Iowa State. It figures to be a low scoring game with two below average offenses going head to head. The key player in the game is going to be Iowa State quarterback Jared Barnett. If Barnett can limit mistakes and use his athleticism to make plays he should lead the Cyclones to victory. I like Iowa State to win outright, so I will take the Cyclones with the points.
2011 New Era Pinstripe Bowl Prediction
Iowa State – 20
Rutgers – 17
Source
espn.go.com/college-football/bowls