Sports

Oddsmakers Favor Thundering Herd Over Maryland in Friday's Military Bowl

More than 10,000 fans are expected to flood Annapolis' city streets Friday for the big game at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. (Photo credit: USNA)

University of Maryland alums and football fans will fill the streets of Annapolis for Friday's Military Bowl match-up between Maryland and Marshall universities.

More than 10,000 fans are expected to take in the sixth annual Military Bowl, which kicks off Friday at 2:30 p.m.

The Military Bowl should be like a home game for Maryland (7-5), according to Yahoo Sports, as the Terps will play just 30 miles from its campus in College Park. The Terps, who are playing in its first bowl game in the Randy Edsall era, had an up and down season that was an improvement over the 4-8 and 2-10 records in the previous two years under Edsall. After getting off to a 4-0 start and even cracking the Top 25, the Terps were demolished 63-0 by Florida State and also were handily beaten by Wake Forest, Clemson and Syracuse.

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The Maryland defense will be tested going up against the Marshall offense that is ranked seventh nationally in scoring (43 points per game) and 12th in total offense (502.3 yards per game), says Yahoo's post. The Thundering Herd (9-4) features one of the best quarterback-receiver connections that no one seems to know about. Rakeem Cato and Tommy Shuler were high school teammates who torched Conference USA defenses all year.

The oddsmakers are favoring Marshall over the Terrapins, 46-29, says SBNation.com.

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The Military Bowl will air on ESPN. Tickets are available by calling 888-841-2787 or visiting militarybowl.org. The box office will open at 11 a.m. on gameday.

Parade Route

City officials said a 90-minute parade, led by Budweiser Clydesdales, will begin at 11 a.m. at City Dock, travel up Main Street, around Church Circle to College Avenue, turning left on Bladen Street, continuing along Rowe Boulevard, taking a left on Taylor Avenue and end at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Roads along the route will be closed from 11-11:45 a.m. and will open on a rolling basis as the parade progresses to the stadium.

There will be no on-street parking along City Dock or Main Street as a result of the parade, city officials said.

Parking Information

So where can you park for the big event? Here are a few options:

  • General parking at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will open at 10 a.m. (Stadium parking can be purchased in advance athttp://bit.ly/1gElH2H)
  • Noah Hillman Parking Garage, 150 Gorman Street, is open 24/7
  • Gotts Court Parking Garage, 25 Northwest Street, is open 24-7
  • Knighton Parking Garage, 1A Colonial Avenue, is open 24/7
  • Park Place, 5 Park Place, is open 24/7
  • Germantown Elementary, 200 Windell Avenue, will have additional parking on game day opening at 8 a.m.

The city's free trolley circulator will be running its regular route Friday, stopping only for the parade. It loops from City Dock, up Main Street, around Church Circle to West Street and ending at Park Place and back around to City Dock starting at 8 a.m.  

The Military Bowl is a premiere regional event benefiting the USO and other organizations that support the armed forces and their families.


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