2009 Liberty Bowl

2009 AutoZone Liberty Bowl
50th Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl 50th Anniversary logo.
Kentucky Wildcats East Carolina Pirates (6–6) (9–4) SEC C-USA 25 19 Head coach:  Rich Brooks Head coach:  Skip Holtz
1 2 3 4 Total Kentucky 0 3 13 9 25 East Carolina 3 13 3 0 19
Date	January 2, 2009
Season	2008
Stadium	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
MVP	DT Ventrell Jenkins, Kentucky
Referee	Bill LeMonnier (Big Ten Conference)
Attendance	56,125
Payout	US$1.8 million per team[1]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Mark Jones, Bob Davie
Nielsen ratings	2.3

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.^[2][3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5] The fumble recovery and return, marked by a vicious stiff arm Jenkins put on the opposing quarterback, received generous replay during bowl game broadcasts.^[6]

Scoring summary

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

References

1. [1] Archived December 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
2. UK accepts Liberty Bowl bid The Courier-Journal. Retrieved on December 7, 2008.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. "ECU gets Kentucky in Liberty Bowl". Cox News Service. Cox Newspapers, Inc. December 7, 2008 – via Dow Jones Factiva.
4. "AP Poll Archive". Archived from the original on April 26, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
5. CNN and AP report on 2009 Liberty Bowl
6. Video clip of ESPN broadcast