Dec 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers linebacker Terence Garvin (28) reacts after recovering a fumble during the second quarter against the Syracuse Orange at the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Ken Durbin’s Predictions: I will predict that the WVU defense will hold Syracuse to 300 yards of offense and force two turnovers. I expect Karl Joseph to be instrumental and contribute 10 tackles and an interception. Even with Syracuse’s “home field advantage,” I expect West Virginia to come away with a lopsided victory, 49-24.

No way to describe just how disgracefully I missed on my predictions. I thought that, given the conditions, that Syracuse would be forced to run the football and that would play into WVU’s one defensive strength. Syracuse did run the football, right down the defense’s throat. The way the Orange were able to run the football kept the Mountaineers offense sidelined, which also kept WVU from being able to get back into the game.

WVU’s defense gave up 369 yards on the ground, clearly exceeding my total defensive prediction of 300 yards. Karl Joseph did not help much with the defensive play, only coming away with 7 tackles. The star of the game on defense was Terrence Garvin with 15 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and a pass break up. Great game for Garvin, but not so much for Joseph.

Syracuse exercised their home field advantage to dominate WVU, 38-14.

Brandon Miller’s Predictions: I think Geno will wow everyone in his final game in gold and blue and throw for 400 yards and 5 TDs, with Austin contributing 250 total yards and 3 TDs, Bailey goes for 175 yards and 2 TDs, and running back Andrew Buie will contribute 100 yards and a touchdown. A huge offensive performance will lead the Mountaineers over Syracuse 52 – 31.

December 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Stedman Bailey (3) runs out of a tackle by Syracuse Orange cornerback Ri

Hard to win when your last practice was in a ballroom, every long offensive play was called back on a penalty, and the team didn’t really want to play in a crappy bowl game against Syracuse in the snow anyhow. All in all, a fitting end to the season. Time to put this season behind us and prepare for the next. The defense can only get better, right?

Alan Searles’ Prediction: I am a bit concerned, but going with 54-41.

Failure to Launch.

When we look back at the 2012 season, there will be three games that we absolutely want to forget; Texas Tech, Kansas St, and now Syracuse. The script is the same for each game. The defense gave up a lot of points, but the glaring issue is that the offense never got off the ground. Costly turnovers, untimely sacks, awful penalties and a pure lack of execution marred the team in team in these games. Tough to win given those combinations..

Patrick Pishko’s Prediction: I think Alston will finish with 22 carries, 125 yards, and 2 touchdowns.

I was completely off in my prediction. Alston left the snow tires at home, gaining a mere 5 yards on 7 carries. A rough game in general for the good guys.

December 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; General view as snow falls during the fourth quarter of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Syracuse Orange at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

That was the thought that went through my mind as the Mountaineers took the field for the Pinstripe Bowl against Syracuse. Any football field covered in snow is a beautiful sight to see. Everything else that I saw in this game was just down right ugly. It was like a snow globe of frustration and poor play.

West Virginia came into the Pinstripe Bowl seeking to end a two-game losing streak to Syracuse and left the field with an embarrassing 38-14 loss in a game that was muddled with terrible playing conditions and an array of penalties.

The two teams combined for 174 yards in penalties, with most of the yards attributed to personal fouls and pass interference calls. Syracuse had a terrible time in the first half of keeping the Mountaineers offense on the field with unnecessary penalties. West Virginia similarly had problems with committing too many penalties on the defensive side of the football, especially in long passing situations. The tough conditions were difficult on defensive backs especially, and it showed in the number of pass interference calls against WVU.

Pass interference calls were one of the few things keeping either passing game relevant in this contest. Both quarterbacks, Geno Smith and Ryan Nassib, struggled to complete passes to receivers in the frigid conditions. Nassib completed only 12 passes for 134 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Rather mediocre numbers from a player that has been tagged as a pro prospect.

December 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) drops back to pass against the Syracuse Orange during the third quarter of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Geno Smith faired equally poorly in this game. Smith only completed 16 passes on the afternoon, the vast majority of which were quick bubble screens. The WVU passing attack failed to get going vertically for much of the afternoon and was swallowed up by the Orange defenders near the line of scrimmage. Geno only passed for a meager 197 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Almost all of the passing statistics can be credited to Stedman Bailey. He caught 7 of Smith’s passes for 126 yards and both Mountaineers touchdowns. Outside of Stedman Bailey, no receiver on either team had a great day playing in the awful conditions at Yankee Stadium.

Weather was certainly a factor in the outcome of this game, but cannot be the sole source of blame. Both teams had to deal with the poor playing conditions, but only one team devised a game plan to suit the weather. When the conditions are poor, you have to be able to execute a running game to move the ball down the field.

Syracuse executed an excellent rushing attack against a relatively tough Mountaineers rushing defense. The Orange came into the game averaging 169 yards rushing per game, a total they accumulated in the first half against the Mountaineers defense. For the game, the Orange diced WVU’s defense for 369 yards on the ground.

Dec 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange running back Prince-Tyson Gulley (23) runs with the ball during the fourth quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Syracuse defeated West Virginia 38-14. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Prince-Tyson Gulley ran for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns while teammate Jerome Smith ran for 157 yards. The dynamic duo was able to move the ball effectively in the cold weather and the play calling mix between the speedy Gulley and bruising Smith was perfectly orchestrated. You cannot give Doug Marrone enough credit for recognizing that his team needed to keep the ball on the ground to control the tempo of the game and keep WVU’s offensive freezing on the bench.

Once Syracuse answered WVU’s long touchdown pass to Bailey in the 2nd half, to re-establish their dominant lead at 33-14, it appeared as though the Mountaineers lost their will to compete. It was a difficult task for the coaching staff to motivate this team to compete in a low-level bowl game against another team that struggled to make a bowl game. Holgorsen sold the players on the historic rivalry and vengeance for the past two meetings, but it was apparent that the players just did not want this game as badly as Syracuse.

Given the way this season has gone, the bowl game seems to be a summary of what we have seen all season long. The offense had some big plays that got fans out of their seats and gave hope that they could win the game, but the defense would ultimately be the undoing of this team. As we bid farewell to some of the greatest offensive talents to ever play in Morgantown, we cannot help but question what this offense could have accomplished with a more competent defense to support them.

Looking at the depth chart for next season and the recruiting that the Mountaineers have accomplished to this point, I would expect that we may very well be in the exactly opposite position next year. This year’s defense was extremely young and will be bringing back a lot of talented players to complement the highly rated defensive recruits that Holgorsen is bringing in. The question for next year’s team will be: who is going to be the big time player(s) on offense?

Needless to say, the inaugural Big XII season is not one that Mountaineers fans are going to want to relive for years to come.

All of the members of the HailWV staff are expecting big games from these three, but differ on who will be the star in the bowl game. See what we are projecting for our final prognostications of the 2012 season.

November 17, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) scrambles with the ball against the Oklahoma Sooners during the third quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Oklahoma Sooners won 50-49. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Ken Durbin:

West Virginia has had exactly 4 weeks to prepare for the Syracuse Orange. Last year, when the Mountaineers and coach Holgorsen had 4 weeks to prepare for the Orange Bowl, WVU came out and hung 10 touchdowns on the Tigers.

I’m expecting a similar outburst from the Mountaineers in the Pinstripe Bowl. Syracuse fields a pedestrian defense that Geno Smith and the Mountaineers offense should have no trouble in handling. The one wrinkle in this scenario will be the weather. New York is forecast to be quite cold tomorrow afternoon with some mild wind conditions. The colder and windier this game ends up, the more difficult it will be for Geno and the passing game to get on track.

Even in adverse conditions, I like the Mountaineers offense to handle the Orange defense. What will be the deciding factor in this game will be the play of the Mountaineers defense, especially in the wake of the defensive coordinator change. With that in mind, I will predict that the WVU defense will hold Syracuse to 300 yards of offense and force two turnovers. I expect Karl Joseph to be instrumental and contribute 10 tackles and an interception.

Even with Syracuse’s “home field advantage,” I expect West Virginia to come away with a lopsided victory, 49-24.

Brandon Miller:

I was going to go with another poor performance from our defense, but after seeing Baylor’s defense, which might have been worse than ours, put in a somewhat respectable performance against UCLA, I’m inspired to think our defense will turn the corner too. With Keith Patterson in full control of the defense for bowl preparations, I’m hoping to see an improvement. We certainly can’t expect everything to be fixed- we still have the same players after all, but hopefully the fundamentals will be better at least.

Offensively, I think we’ll be in prime form. The weather might slow us down a little, but not enough to help Syracuse. I think Geno will wow everyone in his final game in gold and blue and throw for 400 yards and 5 TDs, with Austin contributing 250 total yards and 3 TDs, Bailey goes for 175 yards and 2 TDs, and running back Andrew Buie will contribute 100 yards and a touchdown. A huge offensive performance will lead the Mountaineers over Syracuse 52 – 31.

Alan Searles:

Two competing thoughts have been going through my head when thinking about the Pinstripe Bowl. The first is the memory of being slapped around unexpectedly by the Cuse over the last two years, both of which I was unfortunately in attendance for. On the other hand, I was also fortunate enough to be at the Orange Bowl, and feel that if you give Dana long enough to scheme, good things happen.

Looking at the cuse, Nassib has been progressing very impressively over the past few years and is getting some love as an NFL prospect. I am a bit afraid of him gashing us, which is probably due to the last couple years of muscle memory, but again compared to Plethora of QBs we have gone up against, is Nassib really that good?

Frankly we are a superior team. However, Syracuse has talent is I feel is a much more sound team from a discipline standpoint. I still feel like we will have a significant talent advantage and we will see a farewell tour from Geno, Sted, and Tavon. I am a bit concerned, but going with 54-41.

December 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Shawne Alston (left) rushes the ball against the Kansas Jayhawks during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Patrick Pishko:

Yankee Stadium will be covered in snow, forcing both teams to run more than anticipated. Look for Alston to steal the show in this one. I think WVU will have to rely primarily on him in this game.

I think Alston will finish with 22 carries, 125 yards, and 2 touchdowns.

Nov 23, 2012; Ames, Iowa, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) drops back to pass against the Iowa State Cyclones during the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. West Virginia defeated Iowa State 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Two quarterbacks with differing prospectuses rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. After leading the free world into another day of trading, the two star quarterbacks will be asked to lead their teams to victory on Saturday in the New Era Pinstipe Bowl.

Geno Smith has seen his stock sky rocket and then fall this season. Once considered the odds on favorite for he Heisman trophy after leading the Mountaineers to a 5-0 record, Smith and the rest of the Mountaineers went through a very rough 5-game losing streak. During that streak, Smith struggled mightily, throwing costl interceptions and failing to keep pace with his astronomical first of half of the season.

Geno saw his stock go from Google levels to Sirius-XM levels over the course of the season. With the Mountaineers finishing the season on 2-game winning streak, Smith’s stock has started to rebound. While he may not be the top quarterback prospect according to some of the talking heads out there, Smith is still looking like a solid first round quarterback. Geno can take his stock value to the next level with a strong outing against the Orange and could prove to the NFL scouts that he is a franchise quarterback.

Geno Smith led the Big XII in passing with 4,001 yards, 40 touchdowns, and only 6 interceptions.

November 17, 2012; Columbia, MO, USA; Syracuse Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib (12) during the first half against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field. The Syracuse Orange defeated the Missouri Tigers 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-USA TODAY Sports

Smith’s foe, Ryan Nassib, will be looking to salvage his stock with a strong outing as well. Nassib, whose stock has never been really high (much like Ford) has been a dependable but lackluster player for the Orange. As average as Nassib’s career has been, he has excelled in big games, especially against the Mountaineers. In his last two performances against the Mountaineers, Nassib has had huge one day rallies for a combined 292 passing yards and 6 total touchdowns.

Nassib has led the Big East in passing this season with 3,619 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.

With both quarterbacks having one last chance to improve their NFL stock values, the Pinstipe Bowl is set up to be a big quarterback duel. Let’s see who gets their bell rung on Saturday and who surges to a higher NFL value.

Nov 23, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Syracuse Orange cornerback Keon Lyn (8) celebrates scoring a touchdown off an interception with Syracuse Orange safety Jeremi Wilkes (28) during the fourth quarter against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. Syracuse defeated Temple 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

With one week left until West Virginia takes on Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl, we do a little question and answer segment with fellow Fansided editor Kevin Weinheimer. He is the lead editor of the Syracuse site InsidetheLoudHouse.com. Kevin got my insight on the game, which you can see here.

Since I answered a few questions for him, I thought I would turn the tables on Mr. Weinheimer and have him provide his insights on the Pinstripe Bowl.

1.) Syracuse started the season at 2-4 before winning 5 of the last 6 to make a bowl game. What changed in this team to turn them into a bowl team after what looked like a lost season?

Really the major thing that changed was the containment of absolutely silly mistakes. In the season opener against Northwestern, Syracuse quit on a backwards pass when there was no whistle leading to a touchdown, and then overcame it to take the lead until they committed a personal foul in the fourth quarter on a third and long play. Sure enough, Northwestern scored two plays later for the go-ahead touchdown. Against Rutgers, a blocked punt was the difference in the loss on the road. Numerous penalties, dumb turnovers, and mistakes that should not be made were the reason for the slow start. Looking back, the Orange could have easily started off the season 4-2 or 5-1. This was incredibly frustrating to the fan base, but Syracuse has since limited these mistakes which is a large reason why they got hot down the stretch.

2.) The Syracuse defense is not exactly an imposing force this season, 50th in total defense and 62nd against the pass. Given the struggles in the secondary this season for the Orange against a slate of weak passing teams, do you think the Orange have an answer for the Mountaineers passing attack?

Well, it depends on which Syracuse defense we’re talking about. In the first half of games this season, Syracuse as a whole has struggled early on, particularly the defense. This is partly because the offense would have costly turnovers, and partly because this team has just seemed to start slow at times. However, when push comes to shove the defense is more than capable of getting timely stops, and has shown it throughout the year with the numerous come from behind victories Syracuse has. When Syracuse beat South Florida for the biggest comeback in school history earlier this season, the defense had multiple times in the fourth quarter where they would come up with stops on third and short. The Syracuse offense is explosive, but they need the defense to keep them in it if they are going to win.

3.) Obviously the Schwartzwalder trophy will not be offered up to the winner of the Pinstripe Bowl, much to the chagrin of Mountaineers fans across the country. I am of the opinion that the trophy should be on the line. What is your opinion on the matter?

I tend to agree with you, and I’d venture to say about 75% of Syracuse agrees with you as well. The argument against it is that West Virginia left the Big East, and that the two teams not playing each other annually is their fault so the trophy shouldn’t be on the line. Since Syracuse (along with the rest of the conference) are leaving the Big East at the end of the season like WVU did, I’m not buying that argument. However I think that if the two teams aren’t going to play for the trophy in this game, the trophy should simply be retired until the two teams play annually again. It’s unfortunate because it was a great way to honor Ben Schwartzwalder, who was a terrific coach for both schools. I would love to see the trophy on the line, but if it’s going to be pick and choose when it gets put up, the trophy should be retired like the Big East as we know it.

West Virginia University fans have started an online petition to put the Schwartwalder trophy on the line as part of this year’s Pinstripe Bowl between WVU and Syracuse.

For those in need of a history lesson, the Schwartzwalder trophy is named for former Mountaineer player and former head coach of the Orange (known as the Orangemen in the pre-P.C. era).

As a player, Schwartzwalder played center for the Mountaineers in the early 1930s as well as wrestling for the Mountaineers. As a coach, Schwartzwalder led Syracuse to their only National Championship in 1959.

Since Schwartzwalder had a big impact at both schools, West Virginia and Syracuse decided to honor Schwartzwalder with a rivalry trophy in 1993. Since both teams were members of the Big East conference, the award was given annually to the winner of their regular season match-up. This season would have been the first time that the Schwartzwalder trophy was not awarded.

As fate would have it, the Mountaineers were paired with the Orange in the 2012 postseason, extending the streak of consecutive games between the two schools for at least one more season. Naturally, Mountaineers fans would like an opportunity for WVU to reclaim the Schwartzwalder trophy in the final scheduled meeting between the two schools.

Of course Syracuse is not in favor of putting up the trophy. They have won the trophy for the past two seasons and only 8 times total out of 19 meetings.

To attempt to sway Syracuse and the Pinstripe Bowl officials into offering up the rivalry trophy to the winner of the bowl game on December 29.

To be a part of the petition, go to change.org and add your voice to the Mountaineers seeking one last shot at the Schwartzwalder trophy.

Dec 30, 2011; Bronx, NY, USA; First place trophy for the 2011 Pinstripe Bowl between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Iowa State Cyclones at Yankee Stadium. Rutgers won 27 – 13. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The bowl game will be the 60th time that the two teams have met. The Orange hold the series lead with a 32-27 record. WVU has won 8 of the last 10 meeting with Syracuse but the Orange have won the last two meetings. The game will provide Geno Smith his last chance to take down the Orange after two disappointing performances against them as a starting quarterback.

You also have to realize that the bowl game in New York is much more convenient for Mountaineer fans to travel to as opposed to San Diego and the Holiday Bowl. Yes, the Holiday Bowl is more prestigious and would have matched the Mountaineers against a ranked Pac-12 team. But the Mountaineers are now given the opportunity to beat a “conference champion” in front of a major media market and to do so convincingly. It also helps that the opponent is a historical rival of the Mountaineers, making the game more appealing to the Mountaineers fanbase.

Again, playing UCLA in the Holiday Bowl would have probably been the fans first choice, but this match-up makes so much sense financially and aesthetically. It will be good to see the Mountaineers able to rekindle a rivalry with an old Big East foe, especially in the ever changing climate of conference realignment.

If you are going to play in a minor bowl, you might as well play an opponent with historical significance in one of the most interesting bowl locations.

Does this guy look familiar? Mandatory Credit: Photo By Frank Victores- US PRESSWIRE

The Mountaineers took on the Syracuse Orange this afternoon in the Dome. The score will reflect that they lost 63-61. The truth is, we don’t know what the score would have been in the referees would have been doing their job.

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Kevin Jones Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

The West Virginia Mountaineers (15-6, 5-3 BE) are set to face the 4^th ranked Syracuse Orange (21-1, 8-1 BE) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers are looking to bounce back from a stunning loss to St. John’s. The Orange lost their first game to Notre Dame on January 21. They have since faced, and defeated, the Bearcats.

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Last night’s game was nasty all around, let’s face it. Outcoached and physically outplayed on every side of the ball. The result? SYR- 49, WVU- 23.

For this game, I decided that the HailWV Team needed to do a “Brutally Honest Roundtable.” After the jump is when all the armchair and keyboard quarterbacking starts. Keep in mind that I may or may not agree with my writers views at times, but I asked them to be brutally honest (which is what we do here when needed… brutal honesty) and I will run their assessment, semi-unedited and uncensorsed.

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