NFL Tickets
A relative newcomer to the college football bowl season, the fifth ever Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 will take place between Penn State and Boston College. The game initially featured the Big 12 taking on the now-defunct Big East but has transitioned into a Big Ten–ACC matchup. It will be the first Pinstripe Bowl to not include a school from New York or New Jersey as Syracuse or Rutgers appeared in each of the first four iterations.
Penn State will play its first bowl game since 2011 after missing the postseason in 2012 and 2013 due to ineligibility. New head coach James Franklin has seen this year’s team stumble to just six wins after a 4-0 start. After a strong debut season, QB Christian Hackenberg has seemingly regressed behind one of the weakest offensive lines in the nation. The Nittany Lions have not mustered three offensive touchdowns in a game all season and will surely try to make this game ugly to win.
Boston College has had a stronger season, finishing 7-5 including a win over USC. The Eagles have fairly defensible, but still competitive, losses to quality opponents. Led by QB Tyler Murphy, BC has a punishing running game averaging 251.8 yards per game. Murphy isn’t much of a thrower, but he led the Eagles in rushing with 1,079 yards. BC also has a solid defense that will bottle up a Penn State offense that has struggled to make explosive plays.
The rub on this matchup will be a battle of strength on strength as the extremely stout Penn State front seven attempts to contain Boston College’s running game. The Nittany Lions lead the country in rushing defense, having allowed just 1,015 yards and 2.6 yards per carry. Murphy will need to use his arm as well as his feet to open up running lanes for the running backs or it will be difficult to get push against Penn State’s dominant defensive line.
With both schools under 250 miles away, the crowd at Yankee Stadium could be fairly split, but the rabid Penn State faithful have missed two bowl appearances and have a very prominent group alumni in New York. Given the extra practice time, Penn State should be able to make some progress offensively and perhaps throw some new wrinkles or trick plays into the playbook to swing the game. Expect a low scoring but interesting affair between evenly matched opponents.
Prediction: Penn State 20, Boston College 17
Share 
