Boston College Athletics
Football Accepts Invitation to 2014 New Era Pinstripe Bowl
December 07, 2014 | Football
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Boston College football team will face Big Ten representative Penn State in the 2014 New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, December 27 at 4:30 p.m. at Yankee Stadium in New York City. This will be the Eagles (7-5, 4-4 ACC) first appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl.
This will be the second time Boston College will be making a trip to a postseason bowl under second-year head coach Steve Addazio and the Eagles' 14th appearance in the last 16 seasons. Last year, BC fell to Arizona in the AdvoCare V100 Bowl in Shreveport, La. It was the first time BC had returned to a bowl game in three years.
The Eagles have faced the Nittany Lions (6-6, 2-6 Big Ten) 22 times with the first meeting in 1949. Penn State dominated the series, winning the first 19 of 20 games. The Eagles have won the last three matchups in 1993, 2003 and 2004. The two teams have never met on neutral territory.
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"We are honored to be headed to New York City to play Penn State in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. This is the perfect bowl destination for us as so many of our players, their families, our alumni and fans are from the New York metropolitan area," said Brad Bates, Boston College Director of Athletics. "Penn State has one of the greatest traditions in college football and there is quite a history between our two programs. New York is within driving distance of our students and supporters, so we expect a great crowd of fans cheering on the Eagles. This is a wonderful reward for our student-athletes and we could not be more excited."
Overall, this will be the Eagles' 24th appearance in a bowl game. BC is 13-10 (.565) in the postseason, which is the fourth-best winning percentage among all Atlantic Coast Conference teams. Florida State leads the way with a 25-14 (.615) record.
The game will be televised on ESPN and ESPN Radio. The Boston College IMG Sports Radio Network will also carry the game.
About the 2014 Boston College Eagles:
• The Eagles are one of three teams in the nation that rank in the top 15 in both rushing offense and rushing defense. BC's 251.8 yards/game ranks 14th, while the defense's 94.8 yards/game ranks fourth.
• In BC's seven wins this season, the Eagles have outrushed opponents, 2,115-284.
• The BC defense also not allowed over 100 rushing yards seven times in 2014 and in three games, held opponents to 20 yards or less on the ground.
• Graduate quarterback Tyler Murphy broke the ACC's single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,079 yards in 2014. He also broke BC's career record in one year, previously held by Eagle great Doug Flutie.
• Freshman running back Jon Hilliman is tied for second in the ACC with 12 rushing touchdowns. That mark is also tied for 10th on BC's single-season list. He broke the school's freshman mark for attempts with 185 on the year.
• On Sept. 13, the Eagles defeated then ninth-ranked Southern California, 37-31, at Alumni Stadium. BC rushed for 452 yards and racked up 506 total yards. The following week, BC rushed for 413 yards against Maine, becoming just the second ACC team since 2000 to put together back-to-back rushing performance of over 400 yards.
• Boston College's offensive line is made up of a unique combination of five graduate students, led by center Andy Gallik, who was named to the All-ACC first team. The O Line has allowed the offense to tally over 500 yards of offense three times in 2014 and over 400 yards twice more.
About the 2014 Penn State Nittany Lions:
• Penn State went 6-6 on the year with conference wins over Indiana and Rutgers.
• The Nittany Lions defeated UCF, 26-24, in Ireland to start the season. They also beat Massachusetts, 48-7, in September. The Eagles earned a 30-7 victory over the Minutemen to open the season.
• The PSU defense ranks in the top 10 in the nation in most categories, including second for total defense (269.8 yards/game), first in rush defense (84.8 yards/game) and eighth in scoring defense (17.7 points/game)
• Quarterback Christian Hackenberg averages 217.2 passing yards per game and has thrown eight touchdowns on the season. DaeSean Hamilton, an All-Big Team Second-Team selection, leads the team with 848 receiving yards.
• Akeel Lynch leads the team with 603 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Bill Belton has a team-leading six rushing TDs.
• Mike Hull, an All-Big Ten First-Team selection and the conference's Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year award winner, leads the defense with 134 tackles, which is tops in the league. He has 10.5 tackles for a loss of 28 yards.
