The Notre Dame Fighting Irish did not have quite the season they did last year when they made it to the national championship game against Alabama and now the team finishes things off with the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on ESPN from Yankee Stadium and the game starts up 12 pm noon and will be streaming from the WatchESPN website.
The Irish come into the game after losing against Stanford in the final game of the regular season and that matchup saw quarterback Tommy Rees pass for 199 yards and now the team goes up against a Rutgers team that allowed nearly 30 points per game this season. The Scarlet Knights will have a tough challenge with the Irish, as they always come to play in bowl games and this season Notre Dame comes in having gone just 1-3 against top ranked opponents and this could be a very entertaining matchup like last year's game was in the Pinstripe Bowl. Notre Dame comes in ranked in the top 25 at the last spot and it comes after the team had the chance to rally against Stanford in the game that ended the season, but Rees ended up tossing two picks in the final quarter.
Head coach Brian Kelly knows the Pinstripe Bowl is not the same as the national championship, but he said that his players are not treating Rutgers any differently and that they will be ready to play. Notre Dame knows what it's like to play at Yankee Stadium as the team played there in 2010 and won against Army in what was a precursor for the Pinstripe Bowl and now the Irish are into the game after the Big 12 tie in did not have enough teams to take the spot and this comes years and years after ND played some classic games in the old Yankee Stadium and Kelly has tried to teach his team about the history of playing there.
Check here for the ESPN stream coverage for Notre Dame and Rutgers.
The Irish could end up playing in the bowl again with them playing an ACC schedule, as the bowl has that game for a tie in next season and now Rutgers comes into the matchup after getting beating South Florida to finish the season and now running back Paul James will be one player to lead the way. Rutgers is moving along as well next season, as they are going to the Big Ten and that is a huge boost for the team and head coach Kyle Flood.
This season Rutgers had Gary Nova starting at quarterback to start the year and now Chas Dodd likely will be under center, as he took over for Nova and ended up with two scores and no picks against the Bulls and now he has the chance to play the Irish. This past season Jones was excellent with over 800 yards rushing and nearly 10 touchdowns for Rutgers. Notre Dame comes in with a top ranked defense allowing 22 points per game after being in the top five last season and Rutgers comes in scoring just 27 points per game and allowing nearly 30 per contest.