Maryland football slated to face Virginia Tech in the Pinstripe Bowl

It’s official. Maryland football is going to a bowl game for the first time in five years and it will be playing in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Virginia Tech on Dec. 29 at Yankee Stadium in New York. The game will be played at 2:15 p.m.

Maryland finished the 2021 campaign with a 6-6 record after securing a road win over Rutgers in the final week of the regular season to make it eligible for a bowl game for the first time since 2016. Meanwhile, its opponent, Virginia Tech, has the same exact record at 6-6. It beat Virginia by five points in its final game of the regular season to become bowl-game eligible.

It has been a rollercoaster of a season for the Maryland program and head coach Michael Locksley, in which it saw the highs of a four-game winning streak to start the season, then losing six of its next seven games.

However, the Terps were able to pull out the victory in their regular-season finale. Maryland took down Rutgers 40-16, backed by junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa’s 312 passing yard and four-touchdown performance in the must-win game.

Tagovailoa earned an All-Big Ten honorable mention for his performance in the 2021 season, and besides the quarterback, 11 other Terps received Big Ten honors.

Despite clinching a bowl-game appearance, though, there have been a few key departures via the transfer portal. Five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis entered the portal, along with freshman linebacker Branden Jennings, sophomore running back Peny Boone and DeaJaun McDougle.

The last time that Maryland was in a bowl game was 2016. It beat Rutgers in the final game of the regular season to become bowl-game eligible. Maryland then went on to face Boston College in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The Terps may have lost that game 36-30, but soon they will have the chance to redeem themselves in another bowl game coming up.