Maryland Continues Bowl Prep on Christmas Eve
12/25/2007 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 24, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - The Maryland football team hit the practice field again Monday morning to kick off an event filled Christmas Eve.
Coach Ralph Friedgen and several players met the media at the official Emerald Bowl press conference, and the entire Maryland team finished off the day with a trip to Alcatraz, San Francisco's notorious prison.
After a sluggish effort in Sunday's practice, the Terps picked up the intensity Monday, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Friedgen praised his defensive players after practice and singled out reserve linebacker Brian Whitmore for his work this week.
After practice Friedgen and three players headed over to AT&T Park where they sat down with the media for about an hour. Quarterback Chris Turner, defensive lineman Dre Moore and offensive lineman Andrew Crummey made the trip.
Oregon State head coach Mike Riley and three players joined the Terps at the stadium.
"It's a real pleasure for us to be here. Our kids are very excited for the opportunity to play Oregon State University," Friedgen said in his opening statement to the press.
Riley echoed Friedgen's sentiments, and offered some strong praise of the Maryland coach.
"We are also very, very pleased and excited to be here and we're looking forward to a very good football game with Maryland," Riley said. "I've followed Coach Friedgen, his teams and his career, and I have a lot of respect for him and I have a lot of respect for their team. I think they looked very good and we're going to have to play a good game to win."
In the afternoon, the Terps joined the Oregon State Beavers for a bowl-sponsored trip to Alcatraz. The teams spent around two hours on the island where they took a self-guided audio tour of the prison grounds.
Maryland has a light schedule on Christmas Day, although the team plans to have a short walk-through at the hotel before sitting down to a holiday dinner.
Maryland will hold its final practice of the week on Wednesday.
