2009 Liberty Bowl
| 2009 AutoZone Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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Liberty Bowl 50th Anniversary logo.
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Mark Jones, Bob Davie | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2009 AutoZone Liberty Bowl is the fiftieth annual college football bowl game, and was played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee on January 2, 2009 as part of the 2008-09 bowl season. The East Carolina Pirates accepted their invitation after their victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the 2008 Conference USA Championship Game. The Kentucky Wildcats of the Southeastern Conference also accepted their invitation.
East Carolina entered the game with a record of 9-4 and had been ranked as high as #15 in the AP poll during the season; Kentucky was 6-6 and unranked.
The Kentucky Wildcats defeated the East Carolina Pirates by a score of 25-19.
East Carolina led through much of the game; 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 Most Valuable Player of the 2009 Liberty Bowl. The fumble recovery and return, marked by a vicious stiff arm Jenkins put on the opposing quarterback, received generous replay during bowl game broadcasts.
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