Bowling plans on tap
BC faces Maryland in Detroit
One of Steve Addazio’s final acts as interim head coach at Florida prior to the 2010 season was to add D.J. Durkin to the Gators’ coaching staff.
Addazio soon left to become the head man at Temple (2010-12) before signing on with Boston College in 2013. Durkin put in four seasons (2010-2014) at Florida before becoming the head coach at Maryland.
The two friends will meet as rivals when the Eagles (6-6) take on the Terrapins (6-6) in the third annual Quick Lane Bowl on Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit.
BC will be making its 25th bowl appearance and the third in four years on Addazio’s watch.
“D.J. is a high-energy, high-octane guy and when we were at Florida and I was the interim head coach I had the chance to hire him and get him to come to Florida from Stanford,” said Addazio at a press briefing last night at Conte Forum. “He is a great special teams mind and a great defensive mind to become the defensive coordinator at Florida after I left. Now he has this opportunity at Maryland. We’ve worked together and we are friends and I love the way he coaches.”
The Eagles won the last three meetings against Maryland (2011-13) before the Terrapins departed the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Big Ten in 2014. Addazio led BC to a 29-26 victory over Maryland on Nov. 23, 2013, and the Eagles lead the alltime series, 8-3.
BC has faced a Power-5 conference opponent in its last two bowl games. The Eagles were beaten, 42-19, by Pac-12 member Arizona in the Independence Bowl in 2013. Recently crowned Big Ten champion Penn State needed overtime to beat BC, 31-30, in the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
“We play a Power-5 team, a Big Ten team with some recognition to the BC fans as a former ACC team and get your seventh win,” said Addazio. “We are all very excited to get this opportunity to play the University of Maryland in Detroit and we are excited to have a bowl game and extend our practices and develop our team.
“It’s a venue and a place our kids have never been before and we are playing Maryland.”
Both teams needed victories in their season finales to secure bowl eligibility. The Terrapins dispatched Rutgers, 31-13, at home, while the Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Wake Forest, 17-14, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Both teams struggled against the powerhouses of their respective conferences. BC got clipped by a combined 202-24 in ACC losses to Coastal champion Virginia Tech, league champion Clemson, Louisville and Florida State.
The Terrapins were crushed a combined 159-20 in Big Ten losses to league champion Penn State, Michigan and College Football Playoff-bound Ohio State.
“I think we are all excited to be going to another bowl game and I think as seniors and everyone one in my class and the younger guys, we just want to get our seventh win,” said BC senior running back Tyler Rouse. “Getting to that bowl game and getting that next win is important to all of us so everybody has a sense of urgency about this one.”