The Times Dispatch Blogs

It’s hard to believe that the college football season is almost over. It seems like just a few days ago when I was all pumped up over the start of another season, now here we are with the beginning of the bowl season just a few days away.

The state’s two Division I programs experienced contrasting seasons in 2009.

Arkansas State was expected to challenge Troy for the Sun Belt Conference title. However, the Red Wolves lost an exciting 30-27 game to the Trojans in Jonesboro back in September and never recovered, finishing in sixth place in the conference with a 3-5 record and 4-8 overall.

ASU did finish strong, winning their final two games, so maybe that will give them some positive momentum heading into the off-season.

Over in Fayetteville, Arkansas’ season went much more as expected. The Razorbacks finished 7-5, which was pretty much in line with most preseason predictions.

The Hogs earned an invitation to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, where they will play East Carolina on Jan. 2.

The Arkansas-ECU matchup provides one of the more interesting side stories of the bowl season. East Carolina is coached by Skip Holtz, whose father, Lou, enjoyed a successful run as Arkansas’ head coach from 1977-1983. Skip spent his teenage years in Fayetteville and is a 1983 graduate of Fayetteville High School.
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