Five things to take from the Maryland-Texas series

Maryland and Texas will meet in 2017 and 2018 as part of a two-game series finally announced by the schools today.

The Sept. 2, 2017, game will be in Austin.

The Sept. 1, 2018, game will be at FedEx Field.

You probably already knew that.

But how about these five tidbits?

1. It's the HCIW Bowl. That's "head coach in waiting" for those unfamiliar with the acronym. Texas defeornsive coordinator Will Muschamp has a deal to take over for Mack Brown at Texas. Ditto Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin for Ralph Friedgen. Will one --- or both --- guys be on the sideline for this series? Seven years is a loooong time.

2. The teams have met three times --- and the Terps are still looking to score. The Longhorns have treated Maryland like a school with a direction and an ampersand in its name, holding a 102-0 scoring edge in victories in 1959, 1960 and 1978.

3. It's a rare date with Big 12 country. The 1978 Sun Bowl was the last time Maryland played a team in the current Big 12. The last regular-season game against a school from that league was a 1967 visit to Oklahoma. The result: A 35-0 loss to open an 0-9 season.

4. Open with the pros. The 2018 game will mark at least the fifth Maryland season opener played in a pro stadium since 1995. The others: 1995 at Tulane (Superdome), 2002 vs. Notre Dame (Giants Stadium) and 2005 and 2010 vs. Navy (M&T Bank Stadium).

5. More games for FedEx Field. So ... Virginia Tech-Boise State and Indiana-Penn State in 2010, Maryland-Notre Dame and Army-Navy in 2011, Virginia Tech-Cincinnati in 2012. Now Maryland-Texas in 2018. That's a decent set of games, and obviously there is time to fill in more contests in the coming years. D.C. might not seem like a great college football town, but at least someone's making an effort to make the sport more relevant in the Mid-Atlantic.

Comments

[Todd aka CharmCityTerp]

The game should be played in Baltimore at M&T...SO much better than the horrible FedEx.

[neal990]

Fed-Ex wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't in Landover.

[D1scourse]

Folks ---

Well, its tough to argue which of the two is better for fans. One is located near a fairly vibrant downtown area. The other was plunked down just off the Beltway and looks like the prototype for what an Olympic stadium would have been if Moscow ever got the Summer Games during Stalins rule.

But one has 90K seats and the other is right around 70K. Thats all you really need to know.

[Fred]

It is possible that the SKins will be not be playing at FED EX in 2017....Maybe they will be back in the city in their new state-of-the-art stadium where RFK once stood...please God.....

[JR]

Has it occurred to any of you that college students with no car can easily go to Fedex on the metro rather than 45 min to Baltimore. UMD is actually in the metro DC area and not in Baltimore.

Yes I know Baltimore is more identified with Maryland but FedEx is closer than M&T.

[D1scourse]

JR ---

Youre right, but its worth pointing out Maryland bused students in from College Park on Labor Day. I dont think transportation is going to be a huge concern to either place unless the world runs out of dead dinosaurs (and, to be accurate, plenty of other organic material as well) to use as fuel.