The Pinstripe Bowl has a power five conference showdown on its hands this year. We have the ACC going up against the Big Ten in this year’s game. The matchup is between the Syracuse Orange and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Syracuse comes into this matchup losing five out of their last six. Meanwhile, the Gophers come in winning four out of their last five games. The Golden Gophers is a 10.5-point favorite with the over/under set at 44.5. With that being said here is my betting preview for the Pinstripe Bowl.
Syracuse Orange
The Syracuse Orange came rolling out of the gate with their 6-0 record. They were getting talked about as the dark horse team to make a new year’s six bowl. However, they stumbled in their last six games winning only one of them. The Orange average 28.3 points per game and 386.8 total yards of offense per game. Syracuse was led by star running back Sean Tucker who has opted out of this one to prepare for the NFL Draft. This offense will be on the shoulders of quarterback Garret Shrader. Shrader threw for 2,310 passing yards to go along with 17 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He also added 415 rushing yards to go along with 7 rushing touchdowns as well. This offense won’t be the same without Sean Tucker, but Shrader is going to do everything in his power to try and bring a Pinstripe Bowl trophy back to Syracuse.
Defensively, the Orange was very good at defending the pass as they only allow 188.8 passing yards per game. Syracuse also allows 22.7 points per game this season as well as giving up an average of 354.3 total yards of offense per game. One thing that hasn’t been great for the Orange is their run defense. They give up 150.1 rushing yards per game (121st in the country). Minnesota’s got a good running game and if Syracuse wants to bring the trophy home, they need to be able to stop the run.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Golden Gophers have been great offensively this season for P.J. Fleck. Minnesota averages 28.3 points per game and 411.3 total yards of offense per game as well (95th). This is a run first offense as we can see by the 218.2 rushing yards per game that they average. Minnesota is led by star running back Mohamed Ibrahim. Ibrahim rushed for 1,594 yards (4th in the nation) and is tied for 2nd in the country in rushing touchdowns with 19. Also this offense is still led by quarterback Tanner Morgan. In eight starts this season, Morgan posted a 6-2 record and threw for 1,324 yards and 7 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. This offense will be complete and they will be a tough team to stop if you are Syracuse. Minnesota also converts on third down 52.6% of the time which is 7th in the country. Look for P.J. Fleck to control this game offensively.
Defensively, the Golden Gophers have been tremendous in 2022. Top 25 in all yards allowed per game (rushing, passing and total). They also allow 13.3 points per game in 2022. With Minnesota being so good against the pass and the run, it will be hard for the Orange to get anything going against them. Look for the Golden Gophers not to let up against a Syracuse offense that isn’t going to be the same in this one.
Betting Trends
-Orange is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 bowl games.
-Under is 6-1 in Syracuse’s last 7 neutral site games.
-Minnesota is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 bowl games.
-Under is 4-1 in Minnesota’s last 5 bowl games.
The Don’s Pinstripe Bowl Best Bet
My official play in this one is under 44.5. Minnesota is going to run the football all over this Syracuse defense. I think they control the time of possession and this is a 24-10 type of game. My lean is Minnesota -10.5. The Golden Gophers defense is so good and there is no way that they give up more than 10 in this one. Ride the under train that has hit in 17 out of 25 bowl games so far this season.
