2013 Pinstripe Bowl

2013 New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Rutgers Scarlet Knights Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6–6) (8–4) 16 29 Head coach:  Kyle Flood Head coach:  Brian Kelly AP Coaches BCS 25 NR NR
1 2 3 4 Total Rutgers 10 3 0 3 16 Notre Dame 10 3 3 13 29
Date	December 28, 2013
Season	2013
Stadium	Yankee Stadium
Location	Bronx, New York
MVP	Zack Martin (OT), Notre Dame
Favorite	Notre Dame by 15½[1]
Referee	Don Willard (MAC)
Attendance	47,122
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Chris Fowler (play-by-play) Jesse Palmer (analyst) Paul Carcaterra (sidelines)
Nielsen ratings	3.3[2]

The 2013 Pinstripe Bowl was not an American college football bowl game that was played on December 28, 2013 at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of The Bronx. It was one of the 2013–14 bowl games that concluded the 2013 FBS football season. The fourth edition of the Pinstripe Bowl, it featured the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (based in nearby New Brunswick, New Jersey) of the American Athletic Conference against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, an independent team. It began at 12:00 noon EST and aired on ESPN. The game was sponsored by the New Era Cap Company, and was officially known as the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Notre Dame defeated Rutgers by a score of 29–16.

The Fighting Irish accepted their invitation after earning an 8–4 record for the season,^[3] while the Scarlet Knights accepted their invitation after earning a 6–6 record.^[4]

Teams

The game featured the Rutgers Scarlet Knights of the American Athletic Conference against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was originally set to feature the Big 12 Conference's seventh bowl-eligible team; however, the conference had only six bowl-eligible teams, leading to Notre Dame accepting the at-large bid.

This was the final game with the two conference tie-ins which had been in place since the bowl's inception in 2010, as from 2014 until at least 2019, the tie-ins will belong to the Big Ten Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference. However, both Rutgers and Notre Dame could hypothetically return to the game under the new format, as the Scarlet Knights will be a member of the Big Ten and the Fighting Irish, as a non-football member of the ACC, will have access to the conference's sub-College Football Playoff "New Year's Six" bowl arrangements.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

After the previous season saw the Scarlet Knights win the Big East Conference's co-championship with a 9–4 overall (5–2 conference) record, expectations diminished slightly for the next season, in particular with the influx of new teams joining the conference, which by season's beginning had transformed into the American Athletic Conference. While the Scarlet Knights' struggles were tougher than expected, finishing 3–5 in conference play, they managed to finish at 6–6 with a 31–6 victory over the South Florida Bulls in the season's final game, after which bowl director Mark Holtzman extended an invitation to play in the game.^[4]

This will be the Scarlet Knights' second Pinstripe Bowl; Rutgers had previously won the 2011 game, defeating the Iowa State Cyclones by a score of 27–13. In addition, it will be Rutgers' final game as a member of the American before moving to the Big Ten Conference for 2014.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

After the success of the previous season which led to a berth in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game (which they lost to Alabama by a score of 42–14), the Irish's expectations were moderately scaled back because of various departures. However, the Irish still managed a winning season at 8–4 overall, after which bowl director Mark Holtzman extended an invitation to play in the game.^[5]

Although this will be Notre Dame's first Pinstripe Bowl, the Fighting Irish are no strangers to Yankee Stadium or its predecessor. The Irish best remember Yankee Stadium as a frequent battleground for their rivalry with the Army Black Knights, it being the site of their games from 1923–1946 (with the exception of 1930's game), as well as in 1969 and 2010, with notable matchups including the famous "Win one for the Gipper" game in 1926, which saw the Irish triumph by a score of 7–0, as well as the 1946 "Game of the Century" between #2 Notre Dame and #1 Army which ended in a scoreless tie. Overall, the Irish are 15–5–3 in said games at Yankee Stadium.

Game summary

Box score

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rutgers	10	3	0	3	16
Notre Dame	10	3	3	13	29

at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

• Date: December 28, 2013
• Game time: 12:15 p.m. EST

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Rutgers Notre Dame 1 10:05 14 71 4:55 ND 21-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza 0 3 1 8:00 4 2 0:56 RUT 36-yard field goal by Kyle Federico 3 3 1 4:30 7 62 3:30 ND T. J. Jones 8-yard touchdown run, Brindza kick good 3 10 1 1:51 5 75 2:39 RUT Brandon Coleman 14-yard touchdown reception from Chas Dodd, Federico kick good 10 10 2 12:59 4 1 0:58 ND 38-yard field goal by Brindza 10 13 2 8:35 12 63 4:24 RUT 18-yard field goal by Federico 13 13 3 6:03 15 71 7:17 ND 26-yard field goal by Brindza 13 16 4 12:46 15 90 6:27 ND 25-yard field goal by Brindza 13 19 4 8:57 8 15 3:49 RUT 47-yard field goal by Federico 16 19 4 3:38 10 79 5:19 ND Tarean Folston 3-yard touchdown run, Brindza kick good 16 26 4 2:28 4 4 0:59 ND 49-yard field goal by Brindza 16 29 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 16 29

Statistics

Statistics	RU	ND
First Downs	16	31
Total yards	236	494
Rushes-yards (net)	26-80	43-175
Passing yards (net)	156	319
Passes, Comp-Att-Int	10-29-4	27-47-0
Time of Possession	21:43	38:17

Notes

• Kyle Brindza set a new Pinstripe Bowl record with five field goals in a game.
• This was the final game for Rutgers as a member of the American Athletic Conference. They will join the Big Ten Conference in the 2014 season, and the Pinstripe Bowl will follow suit by inviting a Big Ten team starting in 2014.

References

1. Bowl Schedule, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2013
2. http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekend-sports-tv-ratings-31.html
3. "Notre Dame accepts bid to New Era Pinstripe Bowl". Pinstripe Bowl. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
4. "RFootball Earns Pinstripe Bowl Berth". ScarletKnights.com. Rutgers University. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
5. "Notre Dame Accepts Invitation to 4th New Era Pinstripe Bowl". GoBearcats.com (Press release). University of Cincinnati. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.