Maryland football to play Auburn in Music City Bowl on Dec. 30
Maryland football learned Sunday afternoon that it will play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. in Nashville, Tennessee. The team will meet Auburn of the Southeastern Conference for a chance to win their third consecutive bowl game.
“Auburn is one of those programs that when you think about the pageantry of football, they’re part of that pageantry of football, and it will be a great opportunity in a great town like Nashville,” coach Mike Locksley said Sunday afternoon after the bowl announcement was made. “The TransPerfect Music City Bowl is a step up for us in terms of elevating our program, and I know we’re all excited for this opportunity.”
Locksley said playing a bowl closer to Jan. 1 gives the team more time to spend together and practice, comparing the preparation to spring ball.
“The opportunity to continue to develop our team through these practices that we’re able to get from being bowl eligible for the third consecutive year, you just can’t put a price tag on it,” he said before noting current players such as running backs Roman Hemby (John Carroll) and Antwain Littleton II and wide receiver Octavian Smith Jr. emerged during bowl games. “Games like this have propelled those guys. … A great opportunity. I know we’re all excited about it. It’s a Dec. 30th bowl. It’s in Nashville. It helps elevate our program.”
The last time the program enjoyed three straight bowl victories occurred on Dec. 31, 2002, when that team thrashed Tennessee, 30-3, in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Jan. 1, 2004, when that squad routed West Virginia, 41-7, in the Toyota Gator Bowl, and Dec. 29, 2006, when that team defeated Purdue, 24-7, in the Champs Sports Bowl.
Locksley said he has yet to talk to members of the senior class to determine who will play but said the chance to go out on a high note might serve as motivation for them to be available. He said he thinks redshirt senior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa will play.
“I would anticipate it, but until I get back and now that we’ve had the announcement, I have not had an opportunity to speak to a bunch of these guys,” he said. “But it was my understanding with Taulia that he expects to and he wants to play.”
It’s the first time the Terps have played in a bowl game in three straight seasons since 2006 to 2008.
Maryland (7-5) is 1-2 all-time against the Tigers (6-6). The Terps won, 13-7, on Sept. 27, 1952, but lost 20-7 on Oct. 25, 1958, and 35-23 on Nov. 5, 1983.
The teams completed their regular seasons in opposite directions. Maryland won two of its final three games, including a 42-24 demolition of Rutgers on Nov. 25. Meanwhile, Auburn dropped its last two games, including a stunning 27-24 setback to rival Alabama on Nov. 25 in the Iron Bowl.
Still, Locksley said now is not the time to overlook the Tigers.
“The SEC and the Big Ten are two of the top conferences, if not the top two conferences in all of college football,” he said. “So anytime you get an opportunity to compete against the SEC, it’s something that’s important. Auburn being the opponent, that’s a talented team. They recruit at a really high level. [Coach] Hugh Freeze and his staff are guys that I have a lot of respect for them as football coaches and having faced him as an assistant when he coached at Ole Miss. This will be a great opportunity for the Terps to go up against a great SEC opponent in Auburn.”
A victory would give the Terps eight victories for the second year in a row.
In related news, the Terps continue to lose players to the transfer portal. Sophomore defensive end Jaishawn Barham announced Sunday afternoon his decision to enter the portal on Monday. The 6-foot-4, 233-pound St. Frances graduate was tied for second on the defense in both sacks (three) and pass breakups (three) and ranked seventh in total tackles (37).
Barham’s decision came on the heels of several other announced departures. Tight ends Corey Dyches, a redshirt junior who has been with the team for four years, and Rico Walker, a freshman, said they intended to transfer.
The 6-2, 215-pound Dyches ranked second on the offense in receptions (49) and fourth in receiving yards (491) en route to being named an All-Big Ten third-team choice. The 6-4, 248-pound Walker had only four catches for 27 yards, but was considered a promising player in the developing stages as a former four-star recruit from North Carolina.
And sophomore cornerback Gavin Gibson plans to depart. The 5-11, 182-pound Gibson compiled 15 tackles and two tackles for loss but was expected to emerge as a pivotal cog in the secondary with cornerbacks Tarheeb Still and Ja’Quan Sheppard and safety Beau Brade (River Hill) — all seniors — potentially moving on to the NFL.
Locksley declined to talk about specific players, noting that, “the portal giveth, and it taketh away.”
“This is the landscape of college football, this is where we are with it,” he said. “We understand it. We know that we will lose certain guys and a certain percentage of guys every year. But we’ll also have an opportunity to improve our team because of the transfer portal. So any time players make decisions to leave the program, they all do it for their own unselfish reasons or their own intentional reasons, and we wish them well as we’ve done with everybody that’s started here in our program and has made the decision to leave.”
Despite a three-year tenure as offensive coordinator and analyst at Alabama, Locksley said he has no enmity towards Auburn. He joked that he is more worried about keeping his cards close to the vest when he goes home with his daughter, Kori, being an Auburn graduate.
“My biggest battle will be at the house,” he quipped. “I’ve got a daughter that graduated, and she’s got an Auburn degree up in our house, and I’ve spent time obviously at Alabama. So I’ve just got to be careful about not game-planning or taking anything home she might be able to decipher and kind of give them an edge.”
