Stadium in Raleigh. The victory propelled ECU into the Associated Press college football poll's top 25. The Pirates spent eleven weeks ranked in the AP poll, climbed to as high as 16th in the poll, and finished the regular season ranked 20th. East Carolina dropped out of the top 25 to 27th in the voting after losing 28–14 in the 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl to Texas Christian University and the Horned Frogs' star running back, LaDainian Tomlinson. ECU finished 8–4 in Garrard's junior season. Garrard capped the season by throwing an unbelievable touchdown and rushing for another acrobatic touchdown in a 40–27 victory against Texas Tech in the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. Garrard's senior season began with high expectations but ended in disappointment. Although East Carolina averaged more than 35 points per game in 2001, the Pirates finished the season with a 6–6 record. Ironically, the final game of Garrard's college career pitted him against Marshall University and its starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. Garrard and Leftwich would eventually be teammates with the Jacksonville Jaguars and compete for the team's starting quarterback position. In the highest-scoring bowl game in college football history to that point, Leftwich brought Marshall back from a thirty-point deficit to defeat Garrard's East Carolina Pirates 64–61 in double-overtime. Garrard broke 28 school passing and offensive records at East Carolina and joined a select few quarterbacks who achieved more than 9000 passing yards and 1000 rushing yards in their collegiate careers. Garrard went on to graduate from East Carolina University in 2001 with a degree in Construction Management. Statistics Professional career Jacksonville Jaguars Garrard was drafted in the fourth round as the 108th overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Head coach Tom Coughlin saw him as the eventual successor to starting quarterback Mark Brunell. Coughlin however was fired following the 2002 season, and the team drafted quarterback Byron Leftwich with the seventh overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. Leftwich replaced an injured Brunell midway through the 2003 season, and Garrard continued to serve as the team's backup. Garrard was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in January 2004, and underwent treatment. Despite having surgery to remove a nearly 12-inch portion of his intestines in June, Garrard was healthy to start the 2004 season. His only start of the season came in Week 9 against Detroit when Leftwich was injured; he threw two