Kentucky prepares to take on a East Carolina team which had BCS aspirations of thier own heading into the season, but landed in the Liberty Bowl after a tough mid-season slump. However, the Pirates got to Memphis by winning thier past three games and winning the Conference USA title game over the favored Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
East Carolina will provide quite a game for the Cats as thier senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney can provide a spark with both his arm and his legs. Pickney led the Pirates to upset victories over both Viginia Tech(#17) and West Virginia(#8) early in the season to propel his team to a 3-0 mark and a #15 national ranking.
Following the hot start, East Carolina's hopes for a dream season was shot and killed by an overtime loss to in-state rival North Carolina State. According the the radio play-by play voice, Jeff Charles the loss really hurt the morale of the Pirates.
"They were so amped up for the rivalry game that the loss really took a lot out of them. Then they lost again to Houston and again to Virgina and were looking at 3-3," said Charles.
But the Pirates were able to turn things back around as they went on to win 6 of thier last 7 and took down a high flying Tulsa offense in the Conference USA title game 27-24.
The statistical ranking are unimpressive for the Pirates of East Carolina as they do not lead in any offensive statistical category. Their strenght lies with gritty team play and creating turnovers. Thier defense led Conference USA in scoring and was ranked 2nd overall in total defense.
A fierce defense and a vetran leader at quarterback will face the Wildcats in the Liberty Bowl on January 2nd. The Pirates hope to win thier second straight bowl game and obtain thier second Liberty Bowl title.
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