Duke beats Indiana in Pinstripe Bowl on controversial field goal call

It’s official: Duke and Indiana are now football schools.

The two hardwood powerhouses met in the Pinstripe Bowl for IU’s first postseason game in eight years and Duke’s first bowl win in 55. The Blue Devils won that game in overtime, 44-41, thanks to a pair of missed Hoosier field goals. 85 combined points and eight lead changes made it one of the most entertaining games of the year, and the viewing numbers backed that up.

Honestly, a 6-6 cutoff for a bowl is pretty arbitrary. Going by F/+ ratings, your average 5-7 power-conference team is midway between your average 7-5 or 8-4 mid-major. The only reason we cut things off at 6-6 is to make ourselves feel better about not sending a team with a losing record to a bowl.

We learned this year that having 40 bowls is a tipping point. While there were plenty of scenarios that could make for 80 bowl-eligible teams, three 5-7 teams -- Nebraska, San Jose State, and Minnesota -- got postseason bids.

Indiana kicker Griffin Oakes missed a potential game-tying field goal in overtime of the Pinstripe Bowl, and the Hoosiers lost to Duke, 44-41. Only one problem, though: did the field goal actually miss?

The field goal passed over the top of the upright. Did it pass over the top of the upright *inside* the upright or *outside* the upright?

Indiana and Duke’s Pinstripe Bowl matchup went back and forth so many times you’d think it was a basketball game (Indiana and Duke are historically better at basketball than football, you see).

And just like in basketball, Duke came out on top, winning 44-41 in overtime after IU kicker Griffin Oakes — the Big Ten’s kicker of the year — missed a 38-yard field goal to tie it ... or did he? Oakes thought he made it, and he may have a point.

The Pinstripe Bowl is a college football game played in Yankee Stadium, and Alex Rodriguez is having the game of his life!

No, not that Alex Rodriguez, but an Alex Rodriguez. This Alex Rodriguez is a redshirt freshman running back for the Indiana Hoosiers. His touchdown in Yankee Stadium is actually the first of his entire career. His four carries for 16 yards are also both career highs. He’s playing because Indiana’s best RB, Jordan Howard, is out for the game, but we like to imagine that coach Kevin Wilson just decided A-Rod needed to have the game of his life in Yankee Stadium.

Someone’s postseason losing streak will disappear at the Pinstripe Bowl. Will it be Indiana’s 24-year drought? Or will it be Duke and their 55-year stretch without a bowl victory?

Duke will have to recover from a late-season slide to get there. Seven games into the season, they were 6-1 and in control of their own destiny in the ACC Coastal division. Then, Miami pulled a rabbit out of its hat to stun the Blue Devils on their home turf, and the team still hasn’t fully recovered.

Indiana’s bowling for the first time in eight years and only the second time in 22, and that’s awesome. Every football fanbase deserves an opportunity to celebrate every now and then, and after the drastic fits and starts of the last two seasons, Kevin Wilson’s Hoosiers finally advanced to the six-win mark. But it wasn’t easy.

First came the close wins. With a more run-heavy identity on offense and a defense still trying to find its way, Indiana narrowly avoided disaster early. The Hoosiers survived SIU by one point and escaped with a seven-point win over Wake Forest. In between was a three-point win over WKU that was actually impressive. Still, IU was a pretty shaky 4-0 at the end of September.

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