New York State of Mind

FOOTBALL BLOG

By John Antonik for WVUsports.com
December 25, 2012 04:44 PM

Defensive tackle Will Clarke gets his luggage outside the team hotel Tuesday afternoon as West Virginia begins final preparations for the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl against Syracuse at Yankee Stadium.

All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

NEW YORK – The West Virginia Mountaineers have arrived in New York City! West Virginia will face Syracuse in the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl to be played on Saturday, Dec. 29, at Yankee Stadium.

The team will begin final preparations for the game starting on Wednesday afternoon at Fordham University. Later that evening, select players and coordinators Shannon Dawson and Keith Patterson will take part in a Pinstripe Bowl press conference at Yankee Stadium.

On Thursday morning, Coach Dana Holgorsen and Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib will ring the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange, and following another team workout at Fordham Thursday afternoon, the Mountaineers will join Syracuse for a private tour of the 9-11 Memorial later that evening.

Friday’s walk-through at Yankee Stadium will take place at 1:30 p.m. ahead of Saturday’s game against the Orange. This will be the 60th all-time meeting between these two long-time Eastern rivals and will extend a continuous streak of games that dates back to 1955.

ESPN (Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer and Tom Rinaldi) will televise the game nationally with a kickoff set for 3:15 p.m. MSN’s radio coverage (Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace, Jed Drenning and Hoppy Kercheval) will begin with the Mountaineers Today at 2:15 p.m.

Stop back frequently for more on the game coming up later this week, including daily video reports, presented by Chesapeake Energy, Coca-Cola and United Bank, special photo galleries and online bowl game features.

Also, be sure to check out the Mountaineer Game Day 2012 Pinstripe Bowl Special airing Saturday at noon on Root Sports.