Pinstripe Bowl Betting Odds: Syracuse Bowling for First Time Since 2018

Gophers Eyeing Sixth Straight Bowl Victory

Heading into October, a Minnesota-Syracuse College Football bowl matchup had the potential to be part of the New Year’s Six games.

Minnesota Golden Gophers opened the season with four wins in a row and that included a convincing win over Michigan State in the Gophers’ conference opener. That has played a role in the Pinstripe Bowl betting odds favoring the Gophers. Syracuse won its first six games with a win over Purdue out of the Big Ten the most noteworthy victory.

Both NCAAF teams had some bumps in the road after that with the Gophers dropping three games in a row and Syracuse dropping five consecutive games before edging Boston College in the first game of the regular season.

When looking at the college football injuries report, quarterback Tanner Morgan is questionable for Minnesota. Morgan has missed the last three games. The Gophers will be without receiver Chris Autman-Bell, who has been limited to just three games this season.

Linebacker Stefon Thompson, defensive back Garrett Williams and defensive lineman Terry Lockett all suffered NCAAF Season-ending injuries for Syracuse.

This is the first time the teams have met since Syracuse scored with 1:14 remaining in a 21-17 win in the 2013 Texas Bowl.

Syracuse has played in just one bowl since beating West Virginia 34-18 in the 2018 Camping World Bowl. Minnesota has won its last five bowl games with three of those games finishing as one-score affairs.

Big Ten Looks for Another Pinstripe Bowl Victory

If they both play in the game, the Pinstripe Bowl will feature the third-leading rusher in the ACC in Syracuse’s Sean Tucker and Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim, the No. 2 rusher in the Big Ten.

Both teams are 2-1 in one-score games this College Football Season.

Long snapper Austin Sullivan is the only New York product on the Minnesota team. However, defensive lineman Jay Joyner grew up in nearby Danbury, Connecticut. Even with the Gophers having a much longer trip to get to Yankee Stadium, the Pinstripe Bowl betting odds favors Minnesota.

Defensive lineman Kevin Jobity and defensive back Eric Coley are among the most impactful New York natives for Syracuse (7-5).

Big Ten Conference have won the last five Pinstripe Bowls (no game was held in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic).

There is little middle ground in the game’s history with two overtime games and six of the 11 previous contests being decided by a total of 26 points.

The other five games were decided by 14, 24, 13, 32 and 44 points.

Big-Play Duo

It might be harder to find a pair of college football players in the ACC who made more game-breaking plays than Syracuse running back Sean Tucker and receiver Oronde Gadsden.

Gadsden leads the ACC with 45 offensive plays of at least 10 yards. Tucker’s 11 plays of 20 yards or more are tied for the third most among ACC running backs.

Tucker has not only rushed for 2,556 yards and 23 touchdowns over the last two seasons, but he also has 56 catches during that time.

In two college football games against Big Ten teams over the last two seasons, he was held to 96 rushing yards. Syracuse is 10-7 when Tucker runs for more than 100 yards. Even with those numbers, Syracuse is the underdog according to the Pinstripe Bowl betting odds.

Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 74% of the tackles for Syracuse this season with Marlowe Wax leading the way with 89 stops.

Hitting the Ground Running

Mohamed Ibrahim has looked pretty healthy as only UAB’s DeWayne McBride averages more rushing yards per game than Ibrahim’s 144.9. That has played a role in the Minnesota vs Syracuse odds listing the Gophers as the favorite.

Ibrahim appeared headed to a huge 2021 season as he ran for 163 yards against a top-10 Ohio State team in the first game, but suffered a season-ending injury. A two-time 1,000-yard rusher before the injury.

Ibrahim has more than 100 yards in each of his first 10 games (he missed the loss to Purdue) before being limited to 70 yards in the final game of the regular season against Wisconsin.

The only other time he has faced an ACC team, Ibrahim tore through the Georgia Tech defense for 224 yards in the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl.

Tyler Nubin has four of Minnesota’s 13 interceptions to lead the defense for the Gophers (8-4) who are looking for their third nine-win season over the last four years.

Minnesota Favored Again

This is the second straight College bowl game where Minnesota is favored and that hasn’t happened since the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

The total has gone under in four of Minnesota’s last five games.

Syracuse has failed to cover in each of its last five games and has lost 13 of the last 16 games against Big Ten teams.

Syracuse has the No. 2 college team scores ranked passing defense in the ACC, but is 10th in rushing defense and that could be an issue against a Minnesota team that runs the ball 67% of the time.

The Gophers are second in the Big Ten in passing defense, so this game could come down to which team slows down the opposing running game.

There has been very little movement in either the betting line or total in this game to date.

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