GATOR BOWL BOUND: Terps To Play In New Year's Day Game
11/22/2003 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 24, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland football team is returning to a New Year's Day Bowl for the third year in a row as the Terps received an invitation and accepted an offer to play in the Toyota Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 2004 at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The game will kickoff at 12:30 p.m. and be televised live on NBC. The Terps will take on an opponent from the Big East, which is yet to be determined.
"We are very excited about playing in the 2004 Gator Bowl," said Maryland Director of Athletics Deborah A. Yow. "On behalf of Coach Friedgen, our football program and our president, Dr. Dan Mote, I am pleased to accept the invitation that has been officially extended to Maryland. We are also excited to play in arguably the best stadium in the nation."
Added Coach Ralph Friedgen, "We are excited to be playing in the Gator Bowl. We will put our best effort forward in the game. It is quite an accomplishment to be going to a New Year's Day Bowl three years in a row."
The Terps played in the 2002 Orange Bowl and beat Tennessee, 30-3 in the Peach Bowl last season in Atlanta.
Maryland will be making its fourth-ever appearance in the Gator Bowl, having posted a 2-0-1 record in the three games.
Maryland last played in the Jacksonville classic in 1975, as they topped Florida, 13-0 in a pouring rainstorm -- at a game that coach Friedgen attended with his wife Gloria, while he was coaching at The Citadel.
The Terps defeated Missouri in the 1950 game, 20-7 and tied Georgia in 1948, 20-20. That 1948 game marked the first-ever capacity crowd at the Gator Bowl.
Maryland has begun selling tickets at a fast pace. For your tickets, please call 301-314-7070 or check umterps.com and print out this PDF: TOYOTA GATOR BOWL TICKET APPLICATION. Tickets are priced at $60.
