# 2012 Pinstripe Bowl

The 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 29, 2012 at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of The Bronx in the United States. The third edition of the Pinstripe Bowl began at 3:15 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It featured the West Virginia Mountaineers from the Big 12 Conference against the Big East Conference co-champion Syracuse Orange and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. Both the Orange and the Mountaineers advanced to the game after accomplishing 7–5 records in the regular season.
The Mountaineers and the Orange had a notable continuous rivalry from 1955 until 2011. This included the years in the Big East Conference, which was established in 1979. The winner of the game was awarded the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy from its establishment in 1993. That trophy was not on the line in the Pinstripe Bowl.

## Teams

This was the sixtieth meeting between these two teams. Syracuse leads the all-time record 33–27. The last time they played was in 2011.

### West Virginia

The Mountaineers' first season as a member of the Big 12 started out smoothly, cruising to a 5–0 start and a #4 ranking. However, the Mountaineers would later receive a serious reality check in the form of a five-game losing streak. However, after winning their final two games of the season over the Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas Jayhawks, the Mountaineers would rebound to a 4–5 conference record.

### Syracuse

With a 5–2 conference record the Orange became one of four Big East co-champions along with the Louisville Cardinals, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and Cincinnati Bearcats.
This was the Orange's second Pinstripe Bowl; in the inaugural 2010 game they had defeated the Kansas State Wildcats by a score of 36–34 after a controversial excessive celebration call led to the Wildcats missing what would have been the game-tying two-point conversion. It was also the Orange's final game as a member of the Big East before they joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. This was the Mountaineers' first appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl.

## Game summary
### Box score

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Virginia | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Syracuse | 3 | 9 | 23 | 3 | 38 |
at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
* Date: December 29, 2012
* Game time: 3:15 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Snow
* Recap
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | WVU | SYR |
| 1 | 5:21 | 14 | 72 | 5:08 | SYR | 25-yard field goal by Ross Krautman | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | 7:59 | - | - | - | SYR | Geno Smith sacked by Cameron Lynch in end zone for a safety | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | 6:07 | 6 | 65 | 1:52 | SYR | Prince-Tyson Gulley 33-yard touchdown run, Ross Krautman kick good | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | 3:38 | 6 | 69 | 2:29 | WVU | Stedman Bailey 32-yard touchdown reception from Geno Smith, Tyler Bitancurt kick good | 7 | 12 |
| 3 | 10:43 | 10 | 80 | 4:17 | SYR | Beckett Wales 10-yard touchdown reception from Ryan Nassib, Ross Krautman kick good | 7 | 19 |
| 3 | 6:52 | 1 | 67 | 0:13 | SYR | Prince-Tyson Gulley 67-yard touchdown run, Ross Krautman kick good | 7 | 26 |
| 3 | 5:41 | 4 | 63 | 1:11 | WVU | Stedman Bailey 29-yard touchdown reception from Geno Smith, Tyler Bitancurt kick good | 14 | 26 |
| 3 | 2:52 | 9 | 70 | 2:49 | SYR | Prince-Tyson Gulley 9-yard touchdown reception from Ryan Nassib, Ross Krautman kick good | 14 | 33 |
| 3 | 1:08 | - | - | - | SYR | Geno Smith penalized for intentional grounding in end zone for a safety | 14 | 35 |
| 4 | 11:57 | 10 | 32 | 4:11 | SYR | 36-yard field goal by Ross Krautman | 14 | 38 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 14 | 38 |

### Statistics

| Statistics | WVU | SYR |
| First Downs | 15 | 28 |
| Total Yards | 304 | 507 |
| Rushes-Yards | 30–103 | 65–369 |
| Passing yards (net) | 201 | 138 |
| Cmp-Att-TD-INT | 19–28–2–0 | 12–24–2–1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 11–116 | 5–57 |
| Time of Possession | 23:37 | 35:48 |