• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kentucky rallies past East Carolina in Liberty Bowl

Jan 3, 2009 - 4:18 AM MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Rich Brooks thought he had seen it all in his 32 years of coaching.

That's why the Kentucky head coach was so stunned by the final five minutes of Friday's Liberty Bowl, which concluded with a historic win for the Wildcats.

Ventrell Jenkins scored on a 56-yard fumble return late in the fourth quarter to complete Kentucky's wild 25-19 comeback victory over East Carolina.

With the score tied, Kentucky appeared to take the lead with four minutes remaining when East Carolina's Patrick Pinkney lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Micah Johnson.

But the score was nullified when replays showed that Pinkney had a knee on the ground before losing possession of the ball.

The potentially crippling reversal did not deter the Wildcats, however, as Norman Whitley - replacing the injured Pinkney - was sacked and fumbled just two plays later. Jenkins, a 285-pound defensive tackle, picked up the loose ball with one hand and rumbled into the end zone to give Kentucky the lead for good.

"I've never seen two back-to-back scores after one was called back on defense," said the 67-year-old Brooks, who has coached the Wildcats to three straight winning seasons. "That was a great effort by our defense."

Lones Seiber's ensuing extra point was blocked, keeping Kentucky's lead at 25-19.

It was the school-record third consecutive bowl win for the Wildcats (7-6), who erased a 16-3 halftime deficit to shock the Pirates (9-5) - the Conference USA champions.

"It is significant," Brooks said. "I'm very proud of these young men, the whole group of seniors. They accomplished something historic.

"It just means so much that now we're three times in the postseason - won all three. I'm not happy with being 7-6; I'd rather be much higher than that. But this is as good as it gets for us to come back and battle like that."

Tony Dixon ran for 89 yards while David Jones scored on a 99-yard kickoff return to ignite the comeback for Kentucky, which played without injured quarterback Randall Cobb.

Mike Hartline, starting in place of Cobb, completed 19-of-31 passes for 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception despite playing the entire contest with flu-like symptoms.

"Mike Hartline, battling the flu, had a lot of courage tonight," Brooks said. "I'm really proud of our football team."

Pinkney passed for 296 yards and a TD for East Carolina, which failed to complete its first 10-win season since 1991.

Kentucky forged a 16-16 tie midway through the third quarter when Hartline found Kyrus Lanxter for a 19-yard TD.

The Pirates reclaimed the lead at 19-16 when Ben Hartman drilled a 43-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter. But Seiber made a 34-yarder just 53 seconds into the final quarter, setting the stage for the wild finish.