WHO: 9-4 Marshall (CUSA) vs. 7-5 Maryland (ACC)
WHAT: Military Bowl (6th Year)
WHERE: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland
WHEN: Dec. 27 at 2:30 p.m. ET
WHY: The Military Bowl shifts sites from old RFK Stadium to Navy’s campus stadium. Because of the location and teams involved, the Military Bowl is expecting a record crowd on hand to see Maryland and Marshall. This is the second appearance in the bowl game by Maryland, who defeated East Carolina 51-20 in the final game of former head coach Ralph Friedgen‘s career. As it turns out, this is Maryland’s first bowl game since the 2010 game under Friedgen’s successor, Randy Edsall. This is also the last game Maryland will play as a member of the ACC.
Maryland jumped out to a 4-0 start this season but as has been the case over the last few years injuries eventually took over. Quarterback C.J. Brown will be looking to shrug aside a rough season finale against North Carolina State. In 10 games this season Brown has been the player putting the offense
Marshall’s offense is generally pretty potent, but the Thundering Herd have struggled away from home this season. If they can put those road woes behind them in a setting that should be considered a huge home field advantage for Maryland, the Herd should be able to put up some points against Maryland’s defense. Maryland particularly struggles in the red zone when on defense, so if Rakeem Cato can lead the Herd in to scoring position they should be able to capitalize.
PREDICTION: Maryland 26, Marshall 24