Staff & amp; wire reports

The emergence of Scotty Robinson coincided with the emergence of East Carolina.

The redshirt freshman from Salisbury High grew to 6-foot-5, 240 pounds this year, made the starting lineup on the defensive line and was named Tuesday to the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

A panel of media members selected the team. ECU joined SMU with the most players — five.

Another area player, Aundrae Allison, made the All-C-USA second team as a receiver. A preseason All-American, the former A.L. Brown star is a top offensive threat for the Pirates.

ECU placed five on all-conference.

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While Robinson was winning the first honors of his college career, ECU accepted a bid to its first bowl game in five years.

The Pirates accepted a bid Tuesday to play in the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl next month against a team from the Big East Conference. The game will be played Dec. 23 in Birmingham, Ala., marking the Pirates’ first postseason appearance since 2001 and another sign that the once-struggling program appears headed in the right direction.

“I think it shows we’re making progress toward the goal of where we want to be,” said coach Skip Holtz, who is in his second season in Greenville. “But certainly I think we’re a long way away from saying that we’ve arrived.”

Regardless, the Pirates (7-5, 5-3) look as though they have put the program’s past struggles behind them. East Carolina is making its 13th bowl appearance.

The Pirates had a successful season that included a pair of wins against ACC schools North Carolina State and Virginia while also nearly reaching the league championship game. The Pirates also played well in losses to West Virginia and Navy.

“It’s a great honor and a reward to this senior class, who’s worked so hard,” Holtz said of the bowl bid.

Now the Pirates will play the fourth- or fifth-place team from the Big East, with likely candidates including South Florida or Cincinnati.