The announcers seemed very confident that he’s coming back. But who knows what – if anything – they’re really basing that on.

But, given our sad history in bowl games, I shouldn’t be grading on style points. Here’s hoping that Mallett’s performance was poor enough to keep him in Fayetteville for another year.

…by the number of people online tonight who are disappointed that we didn’t crush them. That was a pretty good team, folks, and we were very fortunate to win that game.

Sure…no one was thrilled with how the Hog offense played. But, as Stephen said, it was good to get a rare bowl win and end the season on a positive note.

(Btw…thanks as always for the linkage.)

I too felt bad for the ECU kicker, especially being a senior. I’m glad I can still feel sympathy for others; er, empathy if you are a Hog fan.

An ugly win, but still sweet. I was happy to see Tejada go out the way he did. I was not so kind after the first miss.

They beat us, we just got lucky and won. That was as painful a game to watch as the Ole Miss/Okie State game. Just brutal. I’m settling in at the start and we’re moving the ball right down the field and Dennis Johnson fumbles at their 30. I should have known then that it was gonna be a long day.

I recorded the game but I’m not even sure I want to go back and watch that one again. This is the first time in my entire life that I’ve ever sat there after the game and felt bad about a Razorback win. I mean felt bad in that ECU deserved to win that one way more than we did.

for Alex to leave on and a better note for Ryan to stay on!

After trying to drink that game out of my memory, I thought I’d stop by and give a few thoughts from the ECU perspective:

This game was huge for our program. Even in a heartbreaking loss I believe we showed the nation that a team from Greenville, NC can not only hang with, but beat an SEC team in every aspect of the game (except sadly, the most important one). Even in defeat this game was huge in regards to our national perception.

Coming into the game I knew that we had the talent to hang around with you guys, but I was nervous about our depth compared to an SEC team. The defense against Mallet was especially impressive and shows why our D-Coord. will be coaching in Tallahassee next season. Our game plan was perfect and we matched the physicality and intensity for 4 quarters.

Poor Ben Hartman. I really can’t express had bad I feel for our kicker. I can’t imagine what it’s like to end your football career on that note… He has been a great weapon for us throughout his time at ECU and has been clutch in almost every other similar situation, making his performance even more mind-boggling. Against Southern Miss just a few weeks ago he drilled two 49 yard FG’s in a tight game.

I think the fan interaction was mostly positive. We stayed at the Peabody (where the ARK team stayed)and were greatly outnumbered, but everyone there was nice and courteous. Unfortunately the fire alarm was pulled around midnight at the hotel our team stayed in, but it only takes one lunatic fan to do something like that and we have our share of those people as well.

All in all, it was a great trip. Beale street was a lot of fun and the Memphis food was great. Good luck in the offseason.

We won, but……