Here is your New Era Pinstripe Bowl preview. It’s the day after Christmas and all through the house, not a creature is stirring, but a New Year’s Day Bowl shoot-out. Two basketball mega-schools, are now slated to battle out their differences on the gridiron. Expect a lot of fireworks on the first day of the new year, as Indiana takes on Duke in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, to be played in the Bronx, New York. Indiana comes into this contest winning back-to-back road games to close out 6-6. Duke may still trying to recover from the 10 laterals and a wing-and-a-prayer victory that the Hurricanes pulled out of their hats.
Bowl: New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Teams: Indiana Hoosiers vs Duke Blue Devils
Date/Time: December 26, 2015 – 3:30 PM EST on ABC
Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Vegas Line/Total: Indiana -2 / O/U 70
Written by: Erik the Hun
6 – 6 Record – 7 – 5 Vs Spread Over – Under: 9 – 2 – 1 11/28/15 @ Purdue W 54-36 W -7.5 O 68.5 |
7 – 5 Record – 6 – 6 Vs Spread Over – Under: 5 – 7 11/28/15 @ Wake Forest W 27-21 W -3.5 O 45 |
December 31, 2007 – Insight Bowl – Indiana 33 – 49 Oklahoma State December 31, 1993 – Independence Bowl – Indiana 20 – 45 Virginia Tech December 31, 1991 – Copper Bowl – Indiana 24 – 0 Baylor December 29, 1990 – Peach Bowl – Indiana 23 – 27 Auburn December 28, 1988 – Liberty Bowl – Indiana 34 – 10 South Carolina |
December 28, 1989 – All American Bowl – Duke 21 – 49 Texas Tech January 2, 1995 – Hall of Fame Bowl – Duke 20 – 34 Wisconsin December 27, 2012 – Belk Bowl – Duke 34 – 48 Cincinnati December 31, 2013 – Chick-fil-A Bowl – Duke 48 – 52 Texas A&M December 27, 2014 – Sun Bowl – Duke 31 – 36 Arizona State |
Indiana Outlook:
The Hoosiers come into this bowl fight with nothing to lose. Injured running back Jordan Howards return is essential. Duke’s balanced offensive attack needs to breath deep and suck it up for one last round. There should be plenty of time for late game heroics as Indiana’s defensive squad ranked last in the Big Ten in total defense. After a 4-2 start, and up big on division foe Rutgers, Indiana ran outta gas and lost in a shoot-out 55-52. That was the apex of a six-game losing streak. The Hoosiers made it here because Nic Sudfeld and coach Kevin Wilson sucked it up and won their last two games of the season.
Sudfeld had a spectacular year at Indiana against some pretty good defenses. Sudfeld led the conference in three major passing categories. The Indiana signal caller completed a league leading 3184 yards through the air, 24 touchdowns and a whopping 153.9 QB efficiency. Sudfeld will look to expose a weak secondary that is not only banged up, but come into this game 72nd in the nation, giving up 228 yards a weekend.
The big question at the running back position is simple. Can Jordan Howard play? Indian would love to utilize Howard’s 196 carries and 1213 yards with his nine touchdowns to balance out the offense. If Howard can’t play, Indiana will turn to Devine Redding. Redding was just about as impressive as Howard, racking up 191 carries and 785 yards and 8 touchdowns.
The Hoosiers prefer to spread the ball around and collect yardage by committee. The top three of these receivers that Indiana throws to Simmie Cobbs Jr., Ricky Jones, and Mitchell Paige combined for 150 catches for 1731 yards and 14 TDs. Only one touchdown and eight receptions separates these three wide-outs from one another.
The Hoosiers barely fielded a defense at all in 2015. At least that’s what the numbers reflect. Indiana’s defensive statistics are in the cellar of NCAA Division I Footballs rankings. The Hoosiers were a paltry 121 in the country in yards allowed a game (507.2), and were even worse against the pass, giving up over 326.3 yards a game (128th).
Duke Outlook:
With the help of a balanced attack, the Blue Devils gutted out a 7-5 record and a berth in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. The attack features five different receivers who catch the football consistently and four different running backs that are called on to move the chains. Indiana’s defense leaves a lot to be desired, so expect Duke to try to take full advantage and put up the points in bunches.
The facilitator of the passing game is Thomas Sirk who slung the ball around to many different targets. Ten receivers had at least ten or more receptions. Sirks threw for 2461 yards and 15 touchdowns with only six interceptions.
Thomas Sirk is also the facilitator in the running game. He had another 143 carries on the ground, for 654 yards and six more scores. Shaquille Powell, the actual running back for the Blue Devils, ran the ball 121 times for 530 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The Blue Devils are a very similar to Indiana in the fact that they also have 10 receivers that recorded over 10 catches. Leading the way is Senior wide receiver Max McCaffery. McCaffery caught 48 balls for 601 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Duke’s defensive unit wasn’t anything spectacular either, but their numbers are far better than the lowly Hoosiers. Duke ranked 38th in the nation against the run, succumbing to 143.3 yards a game, on the ground. The Blue Devils also were respectable at 46th in the country, giving up 372 yards a contest.
Match-up Analysis & Prediction
Analysis:
With the Hoosiers distributing the ball to so many play makers, and an effective air attack, they will look to put up plenty of points against a mediocre defense from Duke. Duke will also try to get the ball to its ten or twelve game breakers as well. With a horrible defense from Indiana, this could result in some major points for the Blue Devils. Actually, the only real difference between these two teams is that Duke occasionally decides to stop an opposing offense. The fans of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl should see the football moved at will, and I expect no shortage of points in this entertaining match up on Saturday.
Prediction:
To get further analysis and the New Era Pinstripe Bowl Preview from Ej the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun, check out our audio preview of the Bowl using the audio file below…
