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2009 Liberty Bowl

FieldValue
year_game_played2009
title_sponsorAutoZone
game_nameLiberty Bowl
subheader50th Liberty Bowl
imageLibertyBowl50logo.jpg
captionLiberty Bowl 50th Anniversary logo.
football_season2008
visitor_name_shortKentucky
visitor_nicknameWildcats
visitor_schoolUniversity of Kentucky
home_name_shortEast Carolina
home_nicknamePirates
home_schoolEast Carolina University
visitor_record6–6
visitor_conferenceSEC
home_record9–4
home_conferenceC-USA
visitor_coachRich Brooks
home_coachSkip Holtz
visitor_1q0
visitor_2q3
visitor_3q13
visitor_4q9
home_1q3
home_2q13
home_3q3
home_4q0
date_game_playedJanuary 2
stadiumLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
cityMemphis, Tennessee
MVPDT Ventrell Jenkins, Kentucky
refereeBill LeMonnier (Big Ten Conference)
attendance56,125
payout1.8 million per team
us_networkESPN
us_announcers_linkList of announcers of major college bowl games
us_announcersMark Jones, Bob Davie
ratings2.3
different_previous[2007](2007-liberty-bowl)
different_next[2010 (Jan)](2010-liberty-bowl-january)

The 2009 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 2, 2009. The 50th edition of the Liberty Bowl, it was the first edition ever played in January. With sponsorship from AutoZone, the game was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The game featured the East Carolina Pirates of Conference USA (C-USA) and the Kentucky Wildcats of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Kentucky overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to win, 25–19.

Background

East Carolina accepted an invitation to the bowl after their victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the 2008 C-USA Championship Game. East Carolina entered the game with a record of 9-4 and had been ranked as high as No. 15 in the AP Poll during the season. Kentucky was 6–6 and unranked.

Game summary

East Carolina led through much of the game. However, late in the fourth quarter, Kentucky defensive tackle Ventrell Jenkins picked up a fumble and returned it 56 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Jenkins was named the MVP of the game. The fumble recovery and return, marked by a vicious stiff arm Jenkins put on the opposing quarterback, received generous replay during bowl game broadcasts.

Scoring summary

Scoring PlayScore
**1st Quarter**
ECU - Ben Hartman 22-yard FG, 5:25ECU 3-0
**2nd Quarter**
ECU - Brandon Simmons 28-yard TD run (Hartman kick), 14:14ECU 10-0
UK - Lones Seiber 21-yard FG, 8:59ECU 10-3
ECU - Darryl Freeney 80-yard TD pass from Patrick Pinkney (kick blocked), 8:47ECU 16-3
**3rd Quarter**
UK - David Jones 99-yard kickoff return (kick blocked), 14:48ECU 16-9
UK - Kyrus Lanxster 19-yard TD pass from Mike Hartline (Seiber kick), 8:13Tie 16-16
ECU - Hartman 43-yard FG, :06ECU 19-16
**4th Quarter**
UK - Seiber 34-yard FG, 14:07Tie 19-19
UK - Ventrell Jenkins 56-yard fumble return (kick blocked), 3:02UK 25-19

References

References

  1. link. (December 19, 2008)
  2. Dawson, Brett. (Dec 7, 2008). "UK accepts Liberty Bowl bid". [[Courier Journal.
  3. Dawson, Brett. (December 8, 2008). "Liberty Bowl awaits Wildcats: Jan. 2 in Memphis vs. East Carolina / UK: Has East Carolina in Liberty Bowl". Courier-Journal.
  4. (7 December 2008). "ECU gets Kentucky in Liberty Bowl". Cox Newspapers, Inc..
  5. (August 2025). "AP Poll Archive".
  6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110622105228/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2009/01/02/39556_viewcast_recap.html CNN and AP report on 2009 Liberty Bowl]{{Dead link. (August 2025)
  7. ((ajcgn6)). (Jan 2, 2009). "Greatest Stiff Arm of the Year?".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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