At this rate, the Pinstripe Bowl is setting up nicely for a 7-0n-7 game.
As we’ve noted over the past few days, Syracuse has had its share of players suspended for Saturday’s Pinstripe Bowl against West Virginia. Now it’s the Mountaineers’ turn. The Charleston Daily Mail reports that WVU starting center Joey Madsen did not travel with the team to New York because of grades.
(Go ahead, insert your snarky comments about academics and WVU here. We’ll wait.)
Madsen was a veteran anchor along WVU’s offensive line, making 50 starts in the past 51 games for the Mountaineers. His only non-start? The 2010 Champs Sports Bowl, also because of academics. As the Daily Mail notes, Madsen is two starts shy of tying former center and Rimington Trophy winner Dan Mozes for the most starts at WVU. Madsen played in practically all of the offensive snaps for WVU this year.
He leads all of WVU’s offensive linemen with 55 knockdowns this year and was second-team all-Big 12.
Losing Madsen is a concern for the Mountaineers, as Syracuse has been able to successfully pressure quarterback Geno Smith in the past two meetings -- both wins.