MD Football

Winds of Change

The 2011 University of Maryland football season brought many changes to College Park.  After taking his teams to seven bowl games in ten years Head Coach Ralph Friedgen was unceremoniously fired after last season’s Military Bowl.  He would go out a winner in his final game with a 51-20 victory over the East Carolina Pirates.  During the offseason Randy Edsall would leave the University of Connecticut to become the Terps next head honcho.  Also, in a move that I didn’t care for he got rid of Terp Alley which I had become accustomed to attending.  This was where the team got off of two big busses that said “University of Maryland” on the side and was led by the band and cheerleaders down to the locker room to change.  It was replaced with Terp Town that features giveaways, inter-active games, and autograph sessions from other sports.   The jerseys were changed as well to put more emphasis on the word Maryland.  Coach Edsall also removed the last names from the back and put the word “Maryland” at midfield instead of “Terps.”  This year alone there could be thirty two different uniform combinations among pants, jerseys, and helmets.  The season began on Labor Day night with an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) showdown with the University of Miami Hurricanes.  For that game the Terps came out with white pants, white jerseys, and white helmets with one side red and white and the other black and gold to look like the state flag.  The jersey shoulders design matched the helmets.  In the Washington Post Sports section dated Tuesday, September 06 a columnist said that they looked like they had come out of a box of Crayolas.  The Terps would come away with a 32-24 victory in Edsall’s debut.