Terps Release 2006 Football Schedule
1/25/2006 7:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 25, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland athletics department and Atlantic Coast Conference officials announced today the Terrapins' football schedule for 2006. The 12-game slate is highlighted by eight schools that participated in bowl games in 2005, five of which won their bowl games, with two playing in last year's Bowl Championship Series.
The 2006 home schedule will be one of the strongest in Maryland football history. It features three games against bowl teams from `05 but most notably two of those six teams are Florida State and Miami. The Terps last met the Hurricanes in 1987 and the team's last victory over UM was the infamous 42-40 Frank Reich-led come-from-behind win at the Orange Bowl in 1984. The Terrapins have never faced the two perennial Sunshine State powers in the same season.
A season after playing just five games at home, the Terrapins will play seven games within the confines of Byrd Stadium. It will mark the third time in school history that Maryland has had seven home games, as the Terps were a perfect 7-0 in their ACC Championship season of 2001 and went 6-1 the following year en route to a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Championship win over Tennessee.
The remainder of the Terp home ACC slate includes last year's Meineke Car Care Bowl champion, NC State, as well as a contest with Wake Forest. The team's non-conference home opponents include a season-opener versus William & Mary -- the first game between the two schools in 60 years -- and games against Middle Tennessee and Florida International,
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"I think it is a great home schedule for our fans. The Atlantic Coast Conference is always going to be tough and heading to West Virginia after the season they had will also be a very big game. It is a demanding schedule, but one I believe we will be ready for."
Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
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The Terps first road game of 2006 will be highly-anticipated, as the team will head to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. The regional rivalry will see two teams that were young and full of talent a year ago resume what has been an interesting series since Ralph Friedgen and Rich Rodriguez took the helm at their respective alma maters. Rodriguez's team had won its first BCS bowl game in 2005 en route to a Top-10 ranking in both national polls (5th and 6th, respectively).
After skipping a year in the series, the Terps will head back to Atlanta to take on Coastal Division foe Georgia Tech on October 7. That game will come a week before the annual rivalry game with Virginia. The Terps will be looking to break a trend at Scott Stadium which has seen each home team victorious since Friedgen and Al Groh took the helm at their respective programs. The road schedule closes out with games at Clemson's Death Valley (Nov. 4) and the Terps' first trip to Boston College (Nov. 18) in school history (the only other road game against the Eagles was a 1985 contest at a neutral site in Foxboro, Mass.). Of note, the Terrapins will play consecutive road games just once this year, a break considering the team played four of its final six games on the road in 2005.
Overall, five of the 12 opponents for the Terps in 2006 finished ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 last year (West Virginia, Miami, Florida State, Boston College and Clemson).
The Terrapins' first season in the new 12-team ACC saw the team finish 5-6 with a 3-5 conference mark. The team lost three games by eight points or less and returns 14 of 22 starters (and 45 lettermen) from last year's squad. It returns the league's third-leading rusher in Lance Ball and second-leading passer in Sam Hollenbach and all but four players from the defensive two-deep.
Maryland posted record attendance numbers a year ago, averaging 52,426 fans per contest on the five-game home slate. The Terrapins' October 20 Thursday night game against Virginia Tech last season was the second-largest crowd in school history (54,838)
Complete information regarding 2006 season tickets and single game tickets will be available on Monday, January 30th.
2006 MARYLAND FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Date Opponent (TV) Site Time Sept. 2 WILLIAM & MARY Byrd Stadium 6 p.m. Sept. 9 MIDDLE TENNESSEE Byrd Stadium 6 p.m. Sept. 16 West Virginia Morgantown, W.Va. TBA Sept. 23 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL Byrd Stadium 6:00 p.m. Sept. 30 OPEN Oct. 7 at Georgia Tech* Atlanta, Ga. TBA Oct. 14 at Virginia* Charlottesville, Va. TBA Oct. 21 NC STATE* Byrd Stadium TBA Oct. 28 Florida State* Byrd Stadium TBA Nov. 4 at Clemson* Clemson, S.C. TBA Nov. 11 MIAMI* Byrd Stadium TBA Nov. 18 at Boston College* Chestnut Hill, Mass. TBA Nov. 25 WAKE FOREST* Byrd Stadium TBA Dec. 2 ACC Championship Game Jacksonville, Fla. 1:00 p.m.
Home games indicated by ALL CAPS; *Atlantic Coast Conference game
