List of Maryland Terrapins bowl games
The Maryland Terrapins college football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the University of Maryland, College Park in the Eastern Division of the Big Ten Conference. Since the establishment of the team in 1892, Maryland has appeared in 27 bowl games. Included in these games are three appearances in the Orange Bowl, one in the Sugar Bowl and one Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game appearance in the 2002 Orange Bowl. The latest bowl occurred on December 26, 2016, when Boston College defeated Maryland 36-30 in the Quick Lane Bowl. The defeat in that game brought the Terrapins' overall bowl record to 11–14–2.
Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum
"The Washington Post" called the 1952 Sugar Bowl the second "game of the century", with the first having been between the undefeated Army and Notre Dame teams in 1946. Maryland was viewed as an underdog against Tennessee, which included five All-Americans on its roster. The Volunteers were led by Heisman runner-up quarterback Hank Lauricella, and Neyland's offensive linemen were described as not large but "squatty" and "bruiser[s], not flashy, but slightly murderous." Neyland considered the split-T offense used by Tatum gimmicky and relied on the more traditional single-wing formation. For the game, Tatum himself abandoned the split-T in favor of a smashmouth strategy, which he hoped would catch Tennessee off-guard. Neyland's strategy focused heavily on punting the ball to pin the opponent in their own territory with a goal of creating turnovers, and Tatum likewise adopted it.