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Florida Gators to face East Carolina in Birmingham Bowl

 
Freshman QB Treon Harris leads the Gators back to a bowl game after UF was shut out last year.
Freshman QB Treon Harris leads the Gators back to a bowl game after UF was shut out last year.
Published Dec. 8, 2014

GAINESVILLE — Florida will conclude its tumultuous 2014 season with a Jan. 3 game against East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl.

The Gators accepted the invitation Sunday evening, a welcome reward for a program that didn't win enough games to be bowl eligible last season and whose struggles this year led to its head coach being fired three weeks ago.

"We're very excited to be heading to the Birmingham Bowl," interim head coach D.J. Durkin said. "Our guys are ready to get back on the field to begin preparation to face a very good ECU team."

East Carolina will participate in a bowl game for the eighth time since 2006. Florida holds a 1-0 lead in the series, having won the lone matchup in 1983.

The game is a preview of a regular-season game scheduled for Sept. 12, 2015, in Gainesville.

The bowl will feature UF's nationally ninth-ranked defense (311 yards per game) against an ECU team that is second nationally in passing (367.3 ypg) and 15th in scoring (37.2 ppg).

"We are looking forward to the challenge of playing Florida, a program rich in tradition out of a conference which has our highest respect," said Ruffing McNeill, the Pirates' fifth-year coach. "We are excited to have another opportunity to accomplish something special for this senior class, especially against a team the caliber of the Gators."

The bowl game will provide Florida players an opportunity to make a positive impression on new coach Jim McElwain, who was hired Thursday and formally introduced Saturday. He replaces the fired Will Muschamp.

McElwain is scheduled to be in attendance, but he will not have any input into the game. The bowl berth also means the Gators get a chance for 15 extra practices, critical for a team that has struggled the past two seasons.

Contact Antonya English at aenglish@tampabay.com.