2009 Conference USA Football Championship Game

2009 Conference USA Football Championship Game
Conference Championship
Houston Cougars East Carolina Pirates (10–2) (8–4) 32 38 Head coach:  Kevin Sumlin Head coach:  Skip Holtz AP Coaches BCS 18 18 21
1 2 3 4 Total Houston 7 12 0 13 32 East Carolina 7 7 10 14 38
Date	December 5, 2009
Season	2009
Stadium	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Location	Greenville, North Carolina
MVP	Dwayne Harris (WR, East Carolina)
Favorite	Houston by 2
Referee	R.G. Detillier
Attendance	33,048
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2
Announcers	Ron Franklin (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analyst)

2009 Conference USA football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
East Carolina x$		7	–	1					9	–	5
UCF		6	–	2					8	–	5
Southern Miss		5	–	3					7	–	6
Marshall		4	–	4					7	–	6
UAB		4	–	4					5	–	7
Memphis		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Houston xy		6	–	2					10	–	4
SMU x		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tulsa		3	–	5					5	–	7
UTEP		3	–	5					4	–	8
Rice		2	–	6					2	–	10
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: East Carolina 38, Houston 32
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2009 Conference USA Football Championship Game was played on December 5, 2009, between the East Carolina Pirates, the champion of Conference USA's East Division, and the West Division champion Houston Cougars at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. The game kicked off at 12:00 pm EST and was televised by ESPN2. The Pirates were looking to be the first team in C-USA history to win back to back conference championships, while the Cougars led by Case Keenum looked to win their 2nd.

Game summary

Under conference rules, the game is held at the home field of the team with the best record in conference play; since East Carolina finished C-USA play at 7–1, better than Houston's 6–2, the game was held at the Pirates' home field, Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Houston East Carolina "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 32 38