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Two East Carolina defensive starters ineligible for Birmingham Bowl

Dec 23, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; East Carolina Pirates nose tackle Terry Williams (54) against the Ohio Bobcats works out prior to the game during the 2013 Beef O Bradys Bowl at Tropicana Field. (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
Dec 23, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; East Carolina Pirates nose tackle Terry Williams (54) against the Ohio Bobcats works out prior to the game during the 2013 Beef O Bradys Bowl at Tropicana Field. (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

East Carolina will be without two defensive starters in the Birmingham Bowl against Florida.

The program announced Sunday that nose tackle Terry Williams and safety Domonique Lennon have been declared ineligible and won’t be able to play against the Gators on Jan. 3.

“While we are disappointed for Terry and Domonique, we expect everyone to succeed with the support system we have in place for our program,” head coach Ruffin McNeill said. “We talk about being responsible on and off the field as one of our core values, and when certain expectations are not met, no individual is above being held accountable.”

This is an unfortunate way to end the career or Williams, a 6-foot-1, 353-pound fifth-year senior. Williams returned from a knee injury to start eight games and appear in 10 games overall for the Pirates this season. He registered 34 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss this season and earned first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors.

Lennon, a junior, started all 12 games this season at free safety and was third on the team with 65 total tackles.

The 8-4 Pirates will face the 6-5 Gators at noon on Jan. 3.

For more East Carolina news, visit PirateIllustrated.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!