Petrino's Razorbacks Favored By 8 In Liberty Bowl Over Holtz' Pirates

Sports News - December 18th, 2009 - Written by Bryan

The 51st AutoZone Liberty Bowl will feature the East Carolina Pirates and the Arkansas Razorbacks on January 2nd, 2010. Arkansas and East Carolina have never met before.

The Pirates are making a return trip to the Liberty bowl, as they were participants in last year's edition.

East Carolina comes back to the Liberty bowl as the Conference USA Champion for the second straight season. The pirates defeated the Houston Cougars in the C-USA Championship game to secure the spot in the Liberty Bowl.

"While one of our goals each year is to represent Conference USA in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl as a champion, having the chance to return to Memphis after our experience a year ago makes this trip even more special," Pirates head coach Skip Holtz said to ESPN.

The Pirates come the the game with a record of 9-4. East Carolina has won the C-USA Championship game twice, a feat no other team has accomplished since the conference split to a two-division system five years ago.

Senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney leads the Pirate offense. Pinkney had a productive year throwing the ball. For the season he accumulated 2,739 yards passing and threw 14 touchdowns.

The Pirates used a tandem of running backs in the offensive backfield, spearheaded by Dominique Lindsay who rushed for 1,029 yards on 206 attempts this season. He also added five touchdowns.

Splitting time with Lindsay was Brandon Jackson. Jackson had 84 carries for 316 yards and three touchdowns on the year.

On the other sideline, the Pirates Defense will have their hands full with the Razorbacks top ranked SEC offense.

Arkansas comes into this game led by second year head coach Bobby Petrino. This will be the Razorbacks' first bowl appearance under Petrino's tenure.

Arkansas first year starter Ryan Mallet led the SEC with 3,425 yards passing and 29 touchdowns. He also only threw seven interceptions.

Mallet was a transfer to Arkansas from Michigan a year ago. NCAA rules require a transfer to sit out one year of eligibility. After riding the bench last season, Mallet was eager to get out and showcase his abilities.

Pertrino has a reputation of developing quarterbacks. He had a successful tenure at Louisville where his offenses were continuously ranked Nationally. Upon his leaving the Atlanta Falcons after only 13 games as head coach, Arkansas grabbed Petrino.

Mallet has blossomed under Petrino. Mallet was a finalist for the Manning award. That award is handed out to the Nation's top signal caller.

The Razorbacks averaged 37.3 points per game, which ranked them first in the SEC. Arkansas scored 30 or more points in nine of the 12 games on the schedule this season.

College Football Betting Lines indicate the Razorbacks as being eight point favorites to beat the East Carolina Pirates, as listed at BetUS Sportsbook. The over/under for the Liberty Bowl has been set at a combined total of 63 1/2 points.

Recent betting trends favor the Razorbacks. In their last four games, the Arkansas Razorbacks are 4-0 ATS. That also extends to 6-1 ATS versus teams with winning records. Meanwhile, East Carolina is 1-5 ATS versus a team with a winning record and 0-6 ATS in their last six non-conference games.

The Liberty Bowl can been seen on ESPN at 5:30 pm ET, on January 2nd, 2010.