The Terps (7-5) will take on the Wolfpack (8-4) on Dec. 30.
Maryland football has been selected to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against North Carolina State on Dec. 30 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported Sunday. The game — which will air on ESPN — will start at noon and be played at Bank of America Stadium, the home stadium for the Carolina Panthers.
The Terps finished 7-5 on the season and became bowl eligible with their sixth win of the season over Northwestern on Oct. 22, the earliest they clinched a spot in a bowl game since 2001. This is the second consecutive season Maryland is heading to a bowl.
“I’m happy for our players,” Locksley said. “They’ve earned the right, they’ve made a tremendous foundation that we’re excited to build open. And our seniors, to be able to go out with an opportunity to play a really great game down in Charlotte, is really what it’s all about.”
With a 6-6 record last season, Maryland participated in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York, where it dominated Virginia Tech, 47-10, for its first bowl victory since 2010.
Maryland has not been in back-to-back bowl games since 2013-14 and has not won two in a row since the 2002-03 seasons. A win would mark the Terps’ first eight-win season since 2010.
Maryland’s opponent, NC State, finished the regular season with an 8-4 record, its third consecutive season qualifying for a bowl game. The Wolfpack have been very successful under Dave Doeren, as this season is the sixth in his 10 as head coach that they have won at least eight regular-season games. NC State briefly looked like a contender for the ACC championship this year, but once quarterback Devin Leary went down with a season-ending torn pectoral muscle, things got a lot more difficult. They went 5-1 in games that Leary played but just 3-3 without him.
The Terps and Wolfpack have a long history, as they were both founding members of the ACC and played 70 times before Maryland left for the Big Ten. The all-time series is split evenly, with both teams holding a record of 33-33-4.
“This is an exciting matchup for us. Anytime you have a chance to go down in our old footprint of the ACC country and play a rival like an NC State, who’s a really good team and obviously we’ve got a great history of playing some great games against them,” Locksley said. “What a great opportunity.”
The Terps will be without a few key players in Charlotte. Wide receivers Dontay Demus Jr. and Jacob Copeland declared for the NFL Draft earlier this week and tight end C.J. Dippre announced he was entering the transfer portal, among others. It’s expected that more players will opt out of the bowl game for the draft or enter the portal in the coming weeks.