Terps excited to be part of bowl tradition in Durkin's first year
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Terps found out their bowl destination Sunday afternoon and will travel to Detroit to play Boston College in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on Dec. 26.
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“I’m just really excited for our team, especially for our seniors who will get an opportunity to play in the postseason and go to a bowl game,” Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin said. “They’re very excited about it. We got the news of where we’re going, so we have a good idea of what we’re doing now and who we’re preparing for. Boston College is a very good team. I know they’re well-coached. I know their coach personally very well. They’re a well-coached, tough, physical team and so we’ve got our hands full with them but we’re looking forward to the preparation and looking forward to getting out there.
“We had a great practice today and were flying around. It’s a great part about college football--the reward of going to a bowl game around Christmas time. It’s become a tradition in our country. So our team gets a chance to be apart of it. We’re excited about it and honored to be a part of it. We’re going to prepare the right way and go play our best.”
Maryland has its own familiarity with Boston College because of the Terps’ days in the ACC, but Durkin also knows a thing or two about Eagles head coach Steve Addazio, whose last season as offensive coordinator at Florida coincided with Durkin’s first year as the Gators’ linebacker and special teams coach.
Without getting into too many Xs and Os, Durkin told reporters that he knows to prepare his team for a physical battle the day after Christmas.
“I just know the design of their program is built around hard work and toughness and all the right things,” Durkin said. “I think [Addazio] is one of the best coaches in the country and I’ve worked with him personally and he’s done a phenomenal job with his guys. They’re a physical team in all aspects of the game and that’s a great challenge for us, so we know we have to be at our best and prepare the right way.”
Not only does Durkin have a history with his counterpart for this contest, he also knows the lay of the land when it comes to the setting of the game.
“I’m very familiar with the area, obviously having coached at Michigan and Bowling Green for several years,” Durkin said. “Ford Field is a great venue. It’s a great place to have a game and we’re looking forward to it. Detroit is a place that has great support for football. It’s a big football area. There’s a lot of big players that come out of that area. The Lions and all the teams in that area get great support. I think it’s a great opportunity for us and we’re looking forward to it.”
Durkin and the Terps are thrilled for the opportunity to showcase their program in front of a nationally televised audience, and Maryland’s leadman admitted that getting to play in the postseason should help further the coaching staff’s effort to rebuild in College Park and the development of the younger players on the team.
“It’s huge,” Durkin said. “It’s a great benchmark to say where we’re at and where we’re going. It helps obviously getting the extra practices to develop our team with us being such a young team. Getting those guys more practice really helps us moving forward and it’s a tangible thing for us to be able to see that there’s growth and progress within the program.”
Durkin added that he does not expect any Maryland players that had been injured earlier in the season to be able to return for the bowl game and he is still unsure of whether or not the two suspended freshmen, Lorenzo Harrison and D.J. Turner, will be be cleared to play.
The team will depart for the Motor City on Dec. 22 and have several days to acclimate themselves and prepare for the game around the holidays. Durkin said he’s looking forward to spending the time between now and then tightening up certain aspects on both sides of the ball for the Terps.
“You have some time before your game so you can really focus on those things, sort of like a training camp,” Durkin said. “You can work on fundamentals and get better.”
Maryland and Boston College last met Nov. 23, 2013 with the Eagles defeating the Terps 29-26 in College Park. The loss marked Maryland's final home football game as a member of the ACC.
The Quick Lane Bowl is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. EST and will be televised on ESPN.