WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maryland has accepted a bid to the Military Bowl and will face Marshall on Dec. 27 at 2:30 p.m. in Annapolis, Md.
The Terps (7-5) closed out the regular season with a 41-21 win over North Carolina State. Marshall (9-4) will enter the bowl game after falling to Rice Saturday in the Conference USA championship.
“I think our football team as a whole is excited to play a team the caliber of Maryland and be playing in the Military Bowl,” said Marshall coach Doc Holliday.
Military Bowl officials had been hoping this matchup would be a possibility for a number of reasons. The game is literally in the Terps’ backyard and the trip from Huntington to Annapolis is certainly drivable, which should translate into a good crowd for the game. Additionally the bowl game is after Christmas, when many fans will already be off work for the holiday week.
“Marshall travels very, very well and come gameday you’re going to see a lot of Marshall fans there as well,” said Military Bowl President & Executive Director Steve Beck
This was also the bowl’s last chance to get a Maryland vs. Marshall matchup. The Military Bowl is contracted with the ACC and AAC for the next six years. Maryland is moving out of the ACC to the Big Ten and obviously Marshall will remain in C-USA with other bowl tie-ins.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to have a great crowd there and be a great atmosphere. I know we’ll take a bunch of people too,” said Holliday. “Our fan base can also drive. We have a great fan base over there and they’re excited about the game too.”
This will be the first all-time meeting between The Herd and Maryland. This season the two teams did face a couple of common opponents. Maryland beat Virginia Tech 27-24 in overtime, the same Hokies team that rallied to defeat The Herd 31-29 in triple-overtime. The Terps also dispatched FIU 43-10, while Marshall handled the Golden Panthers 48-10.
“If it’s a Randy Edsell team it will be extremely well coached with extremely physical players,” said Holliday.
This is finals week at Marshall so players have the week off to focus on exams and will begin preparing for the bowl game on Friday. As for Holliday and his staff, he says they’ll start reviewing game film and preparing for the Military Bowl all this week.