West Virginia Mountaineers vs Syracuse Orange Match Player Stats On Dec 29, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 29, 2012

Syracuse 38, West Virginia 14: Prince-Tyson Gulley rushed for a career-high 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Orange dominated the Mountaineers on the ground to win the Pinstripe Bowl in the sleet and snow at Yankee Stadium in New York.

Ryan Nassib also threw for 127 yards and a pair of scores, including a 10-yard swing pass to Gulley that gave Syracuse (8-5) a commanding 33-14 lead with 2:52 left in the third quarter. The Orange, who recorded two safeties on defense, totaled 376 yards rushing including 158 from Jerome Smith.

Syracuse, which has won six of its last seven games, beat West Virginia’s prolific quarterback Geno Smith for the third time in three seasons. Smith threw for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to Stedman Bailey, but could not pull the Mountaineers closer than 12 points after the Orange scored the first two touchdowns of the second half.

Nassib connected with tight end Beckett Wales for a 10-yard touchdown on Syracuse’s first drive of the third quarter for a 19-7 lead. After West Virginia (7-6) had a touchdown called back by a penalty and the teams traded turnovers, Gulley broke free for a 67-yard touchdown gallop with 6:52 left in the third quarter.

Smith, who came in averaging 333.7 yards passing, was held to 19 in the first 24:01 of the game. Gulley’s 33-yard touchdown run, the first of two Ross Krautman’s field goals and a safety helped the Orange take a 12-7 halftime lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Syracuse also beat Kansas State in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl in 2010, getting 239 yards and three touchdown passes from Nassib. The Orange are 14-9-1 all time in bowl games. … Smith finished with 98 career touchdown passes for the Mountaineers. … West Virginia, which fell to 14-18 in bowl games, had 10 penalties for 104 yards. The Mountaineers were 0-of-12 on third and fourth down combined.