Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich. (AP wire photo) | ZOOM |

        MOBILE, Ala. — In the highest-scoring bowl game in history, Marshall rallied past East Carolina 64-61 in double overtime Wednesday night to win the GMAC Bowl behind Byron Leftwich's 576 yards passing.

        Leftwich capped his performance with an 8-yard touchdown toss to Josh Davis to end the game.

        The Thundering Herd (11-2) stormed back from a 38-8 halftime deficit, tying it at 51 in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Marshall wasted a chance to win in regulation when it missed the extra point.

        Previously, the highest-scoring bowl was Texas Tech's 55-41 victory over Air Force in the 1995 Copper.

        NOTRE DAME:

        South Carolina coach Lou Holtz insists he's not a candidate to return to Notre Dame as its football coach and recommended his son instead.

        Holtz admitted, though: “I can't say no to anything.”

        Notre Dame contacted Holtz on Saturday, seeking advice on what coaches it might pursue after George O'Leary resigned for lying on his resume five days after taking the job.

        Holtz, speaking publicly for the first time since he talked with his old school, said Wednesday he wasn't in the running to return to Notre Dame, where he coached for 11 seasons and won the last national championship for the Irish in 1988.

        “I'm not a candidate,” Holtz said at a news conference as his team prepared to meet Ohio State in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., Jan.1. “Nobody's called me from Notre Dame, talked to me or anything.”

        In other developments at Notre Dame, the Rev. Jesse Jackson urged the Irish to hire a black coach.

        “They should consider one, at least put credible black coaches in the mix,” Jackson said Wednesday. “A university of that magnitude, if they were to hire an African-American coach, it would be a huge breakthrough.”

        Jackson is working with the Black Coaches Association to help promote black candidates for all Division I-A openings.

        There were only five black Division I-A coaches this season.

        Notre Dame spokesman Lou Nanni said the university agrees the percentage of head football coaches who are black is “deplorable.”

        He said, though, that the university has made progress in diversity, pointing to the hiring of an associate athletic director and two assistant athletic directors, all of whom are black.

        LITTLE ALL-AMERICA:

        Former Kentucky quarterback Dusty Bonner of Valdosta State, the two-time Harlon Hill winner as Division II's top player, was the second-team quarterback on The Associated Press Little All-America Team. Bonner made the first team in 2000.

        Georgetown College quarterback Eddie Eviston (Newport Central Catholic) was a third-teamer, having led the Tigers to the NAIA national title.

        Grand Valley State's Curt Anes, who passed for 3,086 yards and 48 touchdowns, was the first-team QB.

        The team was chosen from players in Divisions II and III and the NAIA.

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