Liberty Bowl Betting Odds

Opening Line: Razorbacks -9 / Pirates +9 O/U 63.5

Time: 5:30 PM EST Saturday January 2, 2009 on ESPN

In a bowl that may see a lot of offensive fireworks the East Carolina Pirates take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can tell the odds makers think this will be a high scoring game with a total set at 63.5. Arkansas played a tough schedule this season playing 5 teams that were ranked in the top 25, but they were only 1-4 in those games. The Arkansas' offense is scary, as they scored at least 30 points in nine of their games this season and averaged 44.8 points per game, and 471.4 total yards per game in their last five games. The Pirates are solid on both sides of the ball and they are looking for their first 10-win season since 1991. East Carolina ended the season well winning their last 4 games.

This season East Carolina was 6-6 ATS and Arkansas was 7-4 ATS.

In their last games of the season Arkansas lost to LSU 33-30 in OT while East Carolina beat, then #22, Houston 38-22.

The Razorbacks have the 10th ranked passing offense in the nation and they are led by QB Ryan Mallett (3,425 yds 29 TD 7 INT) and he has a solid receiving corps, especially the WR duo Greg Childs and Jarius Wright, who both averaged at least 16 yards per reception this season. The running attack ranks 78th in the nation, and the RB tandem of Michael Smith and Broderick Green can really take some pressure off Mallett if they can pick up some yards on the ground. The Razorbacks are a pass happy squad on offense, which may turn out to be a nightmare for ECU, as the Pirates only rank 110th in the nation in pass defense.

East Carolina has the nation's 68th ranked passing offense and they are decent at both running and passing the ball. They are led by QB Patrick Pinkney (2,739 yds 14 TD 10 INT), but their main offensive weapon is RB Dominique Lindsay (1,029 yds 5 TD), who averaged 5 yards per carry and cracked the 100-yard barrier on the ground 4 times this season. Arkansas' D is not nearly as good as their offense, as overall they rank 90th, but they are decent at defending the run, ranked 68th in the nation, but not at defending the pass, ranked 105th in the nation. The Pirates may have to get into a shootout with the Razorbacks in order to win this game.

The Razorbacks are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games and the Pirates are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games.


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