VS.

East Carolina and Arkansas have different reasons to view a Liberty Bowl triumph as further validation of successful seasons. These teams meet Jan. 2 in Memphis, Tenn., with the Pirates attempting to avoid a second straight loss in this bowl and the Razorbacks trying to add another key foundation block under Bobby Petrino.

5:30 PM ET, January 2, 2010
Liberty Bowl , MEMPHIS, TN
ESPN

Arkansas Razorbacks ended their regular season with an overall record of 7-5, not bad for a tough division like SEC West where they finished in 4th place. This will be their first bowl appearance under second-year coach Bobby Petrino, who appears to be far better suited as a college coach than in the NFL. Petrino returned to the college ranks after a disastrous 13-game stint with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 — a job he got on the strength of a stellar 41-9 record in four years at Louisville. This season, the Razorbacks finished atop the SEC in scoring (37.3 points per game), passing (303.3 yards per game) and passing touchdowns (31). Petrino is slowly changing this team, but the was able to shaped a great player like QB Ryan Mallett and make him a high level QB. Mallett who was benched last season threw for 3,422 yards and 29 touchdowns with seven interceptions and was a Manning Award finalist as one of the top signal-callers in the country. He also broke or tied 16 school records, and Arkansas set a school mark with 3,640 passing yards. The Razorbacks strategy will be simple, they scored at least 30 points in nine of their 12 games and averaged 44.8 points and 471.4 yards in the final five. They have a balanced attack, as four players have rushed for at least 300 yards and five receivers have at least 300, that is all offense and they will try to run the Pirates over with everything they have got. Other players involved in offense are QB Tyler Wilson, RB Michael Smith, RB Broderick Green, WR Greg Childs and WR Jarius Wright.

East Carolina Pirates finished their season with an overall record of 9-4 in the C-USA East where they were 1st place. They return to the Liberty Bowl for the second consecutive season after defeating then-No.18 Houston 38-32 in the Conference USA Championship game. The Pirates are the first team to win consecutive titles since the conference switched to a two-division format in 2005. The Liberty Bowl gives East Carolina the chance to record its first 10-win season since 1991. The Pirates had the same opportunity last year, only to lose 25-19 to Kentucky after blowing a 16-3 halftime lead. QB Patrick Pinkney will be one of the few players to watched from East Carolina. He played well for them in last year’s bowl, completing 18 of 36 passes for 296 yards and one touchdown. He’ll be aided by another great player, junior WR Dwayne Harris, the MVP of the Conference USA title game and the conference’s special teams player of the year. Other players involved in offense will be QB Josh Jordan, RB Dominique Lindsay, RB Brandon Jackson and WR Darryl Freeney. The Pirates strategy will be simple enough, defend at all costs and score in the few chances they get, they will based the offense throwing so they need to defend really good since the air game is not always accurate.

GAME ODDS

ARKANSAS -7½
EAST CAROLINA 63½

ARKANSAS COMES TO THIS BOWL GAME FROM A TOUGHER DIVISION THAN EAST CAROLINA AND THEIR RECORD DOESN’T MEAN THAT THEY PLAYED BAD, SEC IS JUST MORE COMPETITIVE THAN THE CONFERENCE USA AND WE ALL KNOW THAT ARKANSAS HAS MORE SCORING RESOURCES THAN THE PIRATES SO IT WILL BE OFFENSE VS DEFENSE ALL THE WAY. MY PICK WILL BE ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS -7½.

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