Start spreading the news! The 2023 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl is upon us once more! This year the Miami Hurricanes travel north to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. For Miami, their season was full of ups and downs finishing the year with a 7-5 record. Rutgers on the other hand, comes in a 6-6 qualifying for their first bowl game in almost 10 years. Let's dive into a preview of each team ahead of Thursday afternoon’s kickoff:
Miami
The Hurricanes started the season 4-0 and were ranked as high as 17th in the nation. A home loss to Georgia Tech is what started the fall of the season for Miami. We all remember that game, Miami could have taken a knee to run out the clock and the game would have been done. Instead of taking a knee, the Hurricanes ran the ball, fumbled and then eventually gave up the lead and the game.
A road loss to UNC then made it two straight losses dropping them out of the top 25. Overtime wins at home to Clemson and Virginia had fans buzzing, however, a 3-game losing streak ensued going into the last week of the season against Boston College. A dominating win on the road at BC secured a 7-5 winning season setting up their date with Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Miami will be without Tyler Van Dyke, the team's starting quarterback, because of the transfer portal. Jacurri Brown will be the starter in Van Dyke’s place and will be more of a run threat than a passing threat. Brown started a few games last year but has not played in a game this year so it will be interesting to see how he performs with that in mind.
The defense has some big players that could cause Gavin Wimsatt and Kyle Monongai some trouble. Ruben Bain, as defensive lineman was named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year with nine sacks and 24 hurries on the year. Linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, who recently announced that he will return next year is the second defensive player for the Scarlet Knights to keep an eye out for. The junior comes into Thursday with 7.5 sacks on the year, 70 tackles and one interception.
While Miami may be down a few players due to the transfer portal, the Scarlet Knights need to make sure they are on their A-Game in order to defeat an ACC team that was ranked earlier this year.
Rutgers
Progress, that is the key word for this year’s Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has not gone to a bowl game that they have rightfully clinched since 2014, back when my wife and I were still students there. There’s no doubt that the move to the Big Ten has been a challenge for Rutgers but it has been a great decision that we now see is starting to pay off.
The Scarlet Knights began the year 3-0 once again with wins against Northwestern, Temple, and Virginia Tech. We have seen this before from Rutgers in the past couple years and once conference play really kicked in, they began to falter. This year they were able to get the their 6th win after defeating Wagner, and Michigan State at home before topping Indiana on the road.
Sitting at 6-2, the Scarlet Knights ended the year losing 4 in a row falling to 6-6. While they could have certainly finished on a higher note, they should come into this game with plenty of motivation.
Junior quarterback Gavin Wimsatt has put together a solid year for Rutgers with 18 total touchdowns (9 through the air and 9 on the ground) and eight interceptions.
Kyle Monangai has been the star of the offense this year for Greg Schiano and he plans on returning next year. The junior running back out of Roseland, NJ lead the Big Ten in rushing with 1,099 yards and seven touchdowns.
Pinstripe Bowl Prediction
Unlike Miami, Rutgers has most of their starters on both ends of the ball playing in this game. While it may seem like it should be an easy win, the Scarlet Knights have come out fast and strong.
Coach Schiano will absolutely know that is what his team needs to win and they should ride their star running back early and often to set up the play action. With the Hurricanes coming up north to play in cold weather, I see the advantage going to the Scarlet Knights and Rutgers capping off their season with a huge bowl win!
