why is Skip Holtz smiling?

[BullFan98]

Levitt in the big east was a loser. We aren't getting much different results right now. But skip isn't embarrassing our program publicly, which I believe to be important.

Who knows... skips approach might still work, there are plenty of coaches like him that have had great success... hell, skip has proven he can win conferences with his last team.

Personally I'd be much more like Levitt but I recognize that that would be unacceptable... I'd prefer skip smiling after loss than for skip to come in the room with his face all bloody.

And nobody ripped the heart out of the program except Jim leavitt

0-4 in conference play; 4-4 on the season; 3 of 4 wins against Ball St., FAMU & UTEP....Really??

[snarling Bull]

Levitt in the big east was a loser. We aren't getting much different results right now. But skip isn't embarrassing our program publicly, which I believe to be important.

Who knows... skips approach might still work, there are plenty of coaches like him that have had great success... hell, skip has proven he can win conferences with his last team.

Personally I'd be much more like Levitt but I recognize that that would be unacceptable... I'd prefer skip smiling after loss than for skip to come in the room with his face all bloody.

And nobody ripped the heart out of the program except Jim leavitt

0-4 in conference play; 4-4 on the season; 3 of 4 wins against Ball St., FAMU & UTEP....Really??

We are an embarrassment to the Big Least. Cellar dwellers and we are there by ourselves.

[RG]

At his Presser? What exactly is funny? What could you possibly be happy about?

Wouldn't you be smiling too, if your paycheck was the same amount as Holtz's?

[Bruce Blingstein]

Leavitt used to do windsprints before the games on the sideline. While I didnt care much about that, sports fans (unbiased) would find that foolish.

its the headcoach.

[Who'sYourData?]

Leavitt wasn't embarassing the program

Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day you'll believe it.

Maybe if you can provide some proof, he'd believe it ...

It is in black and white in the report.

[Triple B]

Leavitt wasn't embarassing the program

Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day you'll believe it.

Maybe if you can provide some proof, he'd believe it ...

It is in black and white in the report.

.... If you're talking the Slapgate report, if he embarrassed anyone there, it was himself ... but that's what being hashed about here.

[Bulls Are We]

This was Skippy's last game @ ECU. Sound Familiar?

I remember watching this game live and Skippy was on the sideline smiling then too...

Missed field goals doom East Carolina as Arkansas wins AutoZone Liberty Bowl

By Ron Higgins

Originally published 08:16 p.m., January 2, 2010

Updated 08:33 p.m., January 2, 2010

If there's a checklist for winning a football game, back-to-back Conference USA champion East Carolina just about left nothing untouched in Saturday's 51st annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl against Arkansas.

Total offense yardage? ECU, 393-283.

First downs? ECU, 24-10.

Time of possession? ECU, a 15:50 advantage.

Third-down conversions? Arkansas was 0-for-13.

And even in 20-degree weather, ECU coach Skip Holtz called a timeout in overtime to freeze Arkansas placekicker Alex Tejada, who didn't need any help feeling chilled.

After ECU senior placekicker Ben Hartman missed two game-winning field goals in the final 1:03 of regulation, and another in overtime, Tejada delivered Arkansas from a lifetime of Liberty Bowl purgatory by drilling a 37-yard game-winning field goal for 20-17 overtime victory.

"I was totally confident I had the kick, I learn from the past," said Tejada, who missed a game-tying 36-yard field goal in overtime in the last regular season game at LSU that allowed the Tigers to escape with a 33-30 win on Nov. 28. "I was looking forward to this opportunity, I prayed about it. After that last game at LSU, this is so much sweeter. I went through some bad stuff this year, but I held on to my faith."

There was a lot of praying going on the Arkansas sideline. Hartman, who has kicked six game-winning field goals in the last three years, had never missed a game-winning field goal before Saturday.

But with 1:03 left in regulation, he clanked a 39-yarder off the left upright. Then after a ECU defensive stand, a poor Arkansas punt and 28-yard ECU drive with some nifty clock management, he pushed a 39-yard game-winner wide right as time expired in regulation.

Finally, with ECU getting the ball first in overtime, Hartman missed a 35-yarder wide left, setting the stage for Tejada's personal redemption.

"If you would have said you would have your all-time leading scorer go out there to kick it, someone who has won a bunch of games in his career, he's the one I would have picked," said crestfallen ECU coach Skip Holtz, who lost in this game for the second straight year (25-19 last year to Kentucky) after leading by double digits at halftime. "Aside from those two third-quarter interceptions that gave them 10 points and the three missed kicks, we played a darned near-perfect game. This one hurts. I hurt for this team, because they wanted this game so bad."

So did Arkansas second-year coach Bobby Petrino, who wanted to not only break the Hogs' 0-for-3 Liberty Bowl streak, but start them on a more positive postseason path since the Hogs had lost 12 of their last 14 bowls.

"I'm not sure who outplayed who, but we won the game," said Petrino when asked if he thought East Carolina outplayed his team. "We beat them, that's what it is all about."

With ECU playing essentially a road game -- 90 percent of the crowd of 62,742 was wearing Razorback red -- the Pirates swashbuckled their way to a 10-0 halftime lead.

The Pirates executed their game plan perfectly on both sides of the ball. East Carolina's Liberty Bowl-tying record 99-yard second-quarter scoring drive, capped by Dominique Lindsay's 3-yard TD 7:03 before halftime for the game's first points, sent a message. ECU wasn't afraid of a team from the big, bad Southeastern Conference.

But Arkansas turned game momentum in the first six minutes of the third quarter, twice intercepting ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney in the Pirates' first two series of the second half.

Hogs' linebacker Jerry Franklin's 31-yard return set up a 25-yard Tejada field goal with 10:41 left, then Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas scored on a 37-yard interception return to tie the game at 10-10 (following Tejada's extra point) with 9:04 remaining.

The teams traded touchdowns, Pinkney throwing a 13-yard score to Dwayne Harris with 5:52 left in the period, then Arkansas quickly countering 36 seconds later with Ryan Mallett's 41-yard TD pass to Jarius Wright.

From there, the Razorbacks and the Pirates had a combined 11 possessions in regulation -- Arkansas had the ball five times, ECU six -- had couldn't scratch.

And when Tejada hit his game-winner, racing off the field to get to his dressing room -- "I just wanted to get warm," he said -- the ECU players, particularly the 28-man senior class, could barely drag themselves from the field.

"For us to come out and compete against an SEC team, like no one gave us a chance to, we walked off that field feeling like we should have won," said Lindsay, who ran for 151 yards on 33 carries in his final college game. "It's just the worst way to lose."

[Triple B]

This was Skippy's last game @ ECU. Sound Familiar?

I remember watching this game live and Skippy was on the sideline smiling then too...

I actually remember that game, too ... He did the right thing then, same as now.