2009 CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

POSTGAME NOTES

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES

**With the victory East Carolina becomes the first team to win back-to-back Conference USA championships since the league realigned in 2005. The Pirates are the third team to win consecutive C- USA titles, joining Southern Miss (1996 and 1997) and Louisville (2000 and 2001).

**East Carolina has accepted an invitation to the AutoZone on January 2 in Memphis, Tenn. The Pirates will be playing in the Liberty Bowl for the second consecutive season. ECU last played in back- to-back Liberty Bowls following the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

**Today's championship game virtually re-wrote the five-year old Conference USA championship game record book. A total of 15 individual records and 12 team records were shattered. Included were two all- time C-USA single-game marks.

**Houston WR James Cleveland shattered the C-USA championship game record with 11 first half receptions. The old championship game record was eight, set by Garrett Mills of Tulsa in 2005 and matched by Vincent Marshall of Houston in 2006.

**Houston WR James Cleveland finished the game with 19 receptions, a new single-game record in Conference USA history. The previous record of 18 was set by SMU’s Emmanuel Sanders at Washington State on Sept. 19, 2009.

**Cleveland also shattered the championship game record for receiving yardage with 241 yards. The old record was 152, set by Garrett Mills of Tulsa vs. UCF in 2007.

**Houston QB broke the C-USA championship game record for completions in the first half with 31. The old championship game record was 28, set by Tulsa’s Paul Smith in 2007 at UCF. Keenum finished the game with 56 completions, which is a new single-game record for any C-USA , breaking Keenum’s record of 51, set at UTEP earlier this season.

**Keenum set the C-USA championship game record for pass attempts with 75. The 75 completions are the second-most ever by a Conference USA record, just one short of 76 completions that he had at UTEP on Oct. 3, 2009.

**Keenum broke the C-USA championship game record for passing yards, finishing with 527. The old championship game record was 426, set by Tulsa’s Paul Smith in 2007 at UCF.

**East Carolina safety Van Eskridge intercepted two passes for the second consecutive season in the C- USA Football Championship Game. His second today with 42 seconds remaining ended a potential game-winning Houston drive.

**East Carolina's Dominique Lindsay became the eighth player in Conference USA to run for 1,000 yards this season during the third quarter. The eight 1,000-yard rushers are the most in league history, topping the seven that ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2007.

**When Houston did not score in the third quarter it marked just the fourth quarter all season long in which the Cougars were shut out.

**The 7-7 score at the end of the first quarter marked the lowest-scoring first quarter in C-USA Championship Game history. The previous low was Southern Miss 10, Houston 7 in the 2006 game.

**The 57-yard TD pass from Houston’s Case Keenum to Patrick Edwards in the first quarter was the longest pass play of any kind in C-USA Championship Game history

**In the last two C-USA Championship Games, East Carolina has forced 11 turnovers (seven last year plus four today).