Nov. 30, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Bob White, Chairman of the Gator Bowl Association and President of Compass Bank, formally extended an invitation today to West Virginia University to play the University of Maryland in the January 1, 2004 Toyota Gator Bowl today. The game will be a rematch of the Sept. 20 game in College Park that saw the Terrapins win, 34-7.

The Mountaineers will be making their fourth appearance in the Gator Bowl Classic, a bowl they have yet to win (0-3). Their first appearance was on December 30, 1982 against Florida State (31-12); followed by largest attended game in Gator Bowl history, Clemson vs. West Virginia, on December 30, 1989 (27-7) and their last appearance on January 1, 1997 against North Carolina (20-13).

In the first meeting between the two schools, Maryland was dominant, running up a 34-0 lead before the Mountaineers found the scoreboard for the first time. The Terrapins posted 498 yards of offense compared to WVU's 156 (36 passing) while winning for the third time in three attempts in the series under Ralph Friedgen.

WVU makes its way to the Gator by owning part of the Big East title for the first time since 1993, when the Mountaineers won the first-ever league round-robin championship outright with a 7-0 record.

West Virginia's 28-7 victory over Virginia Tech set the Mountaineers up for another late-season run. The Mountaineers improved to 6-1 in the conference, earning a share of the BIG EAST title, with their 45-28 win over Temple; WVU is now 8-4 overall after starting the season at 1-4.