Papajohns.com Bowl

South Florida vs. East Carolina

1PM, December 23, Birmingham

ESPN2

There’s one slice of pizza left and four guys around the table with hungry stares. In many circles that’s a problem, but amongst the selfless East Carolina Pirates (7-5), it’s nothing. These guys share rushes (three EC running backs have four TDs) and receptions (six different people caught at least 20 passes), you know sausage and pepperoni aren’t much a problem. South Florida QB Matt Grothe probably likes his pie the same way he likes his play-calling—with a lil’ bit of everything on it. The ’06 Big East Freshman of the Year, the exciting Grothe not only led the Bulls (8-4) in passing but he also paced them in rushing. Too bad Coach Jim Leavitt won’t let him taste a few plays on defense. ECU munches on SFU 24-21.

Interesting Facts: East Carolina’s last bowl was a thrilling 64-61 double-overtime loss to Marshall in the ’02 GMAC Bowl. On the flip, in South Florida’s last game of any kind, they shocked then-No.7 West Virginia (in Charleston, WV!) 24-19.