Patrick Pinkney News

GREENVILLE, N.C., Dec. 3 -- The University of Houston issued the following news release: The University of Houston football team looks for its second conference championship in the last four seasons when it faces East Carolina in the 2009 Conference USA Championship Game this weekend.

Maybe Skip Holtz really leaves East Carolina this time for Notre Dame, Virginia or some other iron-poor football program thirsty for an elixir.

East Carolina coach Skip Holtz is ready to face his father's old team. Holtz and the Pirates will take on Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl on Jan.

Last weekend, it was made official that the Razorbacks will be playing in the Liberty Bowl, and Hog fans got to catch a sneak peak ofA their future opponent as East Carolina and Houston fought it out to see who would advance to face the Hogs in Memphis.

Published: Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. GREENVILLE Saturday night in Atlanta, Alabama and Florida played a college football game of great significance that was followed by a celebration of epic proportions.

The chaos surrounding Patrick Pinkney in the unbridled jubilation of Saturday afternoon did little to abate the isolation of the moment.

After beginning the season with lackluster performances and losses against West Virginia and UNC, Pirate fans who had hoped for so much began to have second thoughts.

No. 18 Houston at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. noon, ESPN2 Favorite Houston by 2.5 With wins over Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Mississippi State - and led by almost 5,000 passing yards from QB Case Keenum - the Cougars would be BCS-bound if not for a couple of stumbles.

East Carolina s back in the Conference USA championship game for a second straight season and look to defend their conference superiority.

Mustangs Mitch Enright and Chase Kennemer have been named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team, as selected by the league's Sports Information Directors for football, the league office announced Thursday.

ECU won the contest 25-20 over the Golden Eagles to win the C-USA East Division.

After a week of designing a game plan to beat East Carolina today, Southern Miss is ready to settle the East Division and claim a berth in next week's Conference USA championship game.

C.J. Wilson blocked the kick, scooped the ball and took off for the goal line. Nothing was going to stop him from securing one final home game at East Carolina.

The stakes are as simple as they are high: Win two more games, and East Carolina makes history.

To say Southern Miss owns East Carolina on its home field is an understatement. The Golden Eagles are 15-2 against ECU in Greenville, N.C., and have won the last seven games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

A 6-foot-7, 275-pound offensive/defensive lineman, Aaron Kramer of Duxbury, Mass., has accepted a Class of 2010 scholarship offer from the Eagles.

It is often said that the numbers don't lie, but in the case of ECU's 37-21 win over Conference USA East Division opponent UAB on Saturday - they did.

The second half of the season has seen an offensive surge for East Carolina. With the exception of the 16-3 loss to Virginia Tech, the Pirates have scored at least 37 points in four of the last five contests.

Covering kickoffs and third down defense have been two of the biggest problem areas for UAB this season.

Harris' 3 scores lead East Carolina past UAB 37-21 Eds: APNewsNow. East Carolina 37, Alabama-Birmingham 21.