Boston College will spend the holidays in the Motor City. The Eagles learned Sunday that they will be making their bowl appearance in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit on Dec. 26.
Their opponent will be familiar: They’ll be matched against Maryland, once an Atlantic Coast Conference rival before moving to the Big Ten two years ago.
“Couldn’t be happier about our opportunity,” said Eagles coach Steve Addazio. “Couldn’t be happier about the chance to get to our seventh win and play in this bowl game and have a chance to be around our players and develop our team.”
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It will be the third bowl appearance in four seasons for the Eagles. But after going winless in the ACC a year ago and trudging through several lopsided losses this season, reaching a bowl game offered a chance at gaining some redemption, especially for seniors who have a chance to leave with a winning season and a victory in their final game.
“I think they feel just that way,” Addazio said. “That we’ve fought really hard down the home stretch to get bowl eligible, to get a chance to get to this bowl game. And with them, obviously, they want to win the bowl game. We all do.
“But they feel that. They really feel strong about the legacy they want to leave as we move this thing forward, and that legacy is going to be our third bowl in four years and a chance to win that bowl and get that seventh win and really push this program forward.”
Addazio took the Eagles to bowl games in each of his first two seasons at BC, and the Eagles seemed to be on an upward trajectory after going 2-10 in 2013, but a dismal 2015 season was a setback.
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Inside the program, a return to the postseason gives the team the sense that things are getting back on track.
“Getting to play in the last two bowl games when I was here my freshman and sophomore years and not going to one last year was kind of heartbreaking, but just getting back to one feels great,” said senior running back Tyler Rouse. “And the team just feels so excited just to be back at one. And for the young guys who haven’t been to one yet, it’s really exciting for them, and they’re kind of like, what are we going to do, what’s going on. But it’s really exciting and we’re all looking forward to just getting out and playing and trying to get the seventh win.”
There were three possible landings sports for the Eagles: The Quick Lane Bowl, the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md., and the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. Quick Lane Bowl executive director Brad Michaels said he had been in contact with BC often recently.
“We’re all excited,” Michaels said. “Boston College has a great football tradition and to have the opportunity to host them against Maryland, Big Ten-ACC, we’re really looking forward to this year’s matchup and we’re really excited to get them in Detroit in a few weeks.”
The Eagles will face Maryland for the first time since beating the Terrapins, 29-26, in 2013. Since leaving the ACC, Maryland has gone through growing pains adjusting to the Big Ten, going 7-6 and reaching the Farmers Bowl in 2014, but firing coach Randy Edsall midway through a 3-9 season in 2015.
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In his first year as coach, D.J. Durkin led the Terrapins to a 6-6 record, struggling much like BC to contend with Big Ten powerhouses such as Michigan and Ohio State.
Addazio has ties to Durkin going back to his days at Florida. The two overlapped in Addazio’s final season with the Gators in 2010. Addazio said he was involved in Durkin’s hiring as linebackers and special teams coach.
“D.J. is a high-energy, high-octane guy,” Addazio said. “When we were at Florida, and I was the interim head coach, I had a chance to be a part of hiring him to get him to come to Florida from Stanford. He was a great — is a great — special teams mind, and obviously a great defensive mind, becoming the defensive coordinator at Florida after I left, and then going on to be the defensive coordinator at Michigan, and then of course having this opportunity here at Maryland.”
As a native of Hyattsville, Md., Eagles safety John Johnson has a different kind of incentive.
“They didn’t really offer me,” he said. “They didn’t really recruit me that much. It means a lot to me. It’s not personal, but it’s strictly business. So I mean, they’ll get the best out of No. 9. That’s all I can say.”
The sting from a 31-30 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium two years ago lingers for some seniors. The Eagles haven’t won a bowl game since 2007.
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“That was a hard way to end the year,” said defensive tackle Truman Gutapfel. “Definitely I think, as a senior class, we really want to really work and focus on winning this game. Because we went my freshman and my sophomore year and we lost them both. It’s been a while since we’ve won a bowl game here, so it’s pretty important to the senior class to leave a legacy, to go out with a winning record, 7-6.”
Bowl | Matchup | Site | Date | Time | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Mexico Bowl | New Mexico vs. UTSA | Albuquerque | Dec. 17 | 2 p.m. | ESPN |
Las Vegas Bowl | San Diego St. vs. Houston | Las Vegas | Dec. 17 | 3:30 p.m. | ABC |
Camellia Bowl | Toledo vs. Appalachian St. | , | Dec. 17 | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Cure Bowl | Arkansas St. vs. UCF | Orlando | Dec. 17 | 5:30 p.m. | CBS Sports Network |
New Orleans Bowl | La.-Lafayette vs. Southern Miss | New Orleans | Dec. 17 | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
Miami Beach Bowl | Tulsa vs. Central Mich. | , | Dec. 19 | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Boca Raton Bowl | Western Ky. vs. Memphis | Boca Raton, Fla. | Dec. 20 | 7 p.m. | ESPN |
Poinsettia Bowl | Wyoming vs. BYU | San Diego | Dec. 21 | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
Idaho Potato Bowl | Colorado St. vs. Idaho | Boise, Idaho | Dec. 22 | 7 p.m. | ESPN |
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl | Old Dominion vs. E. Michigan | Nassau, | Dec. 23 | 1 p.m. | ESPN |
Armed Forces Bowl | Navy vs. Louisiana Tech | Fort Worth | Dec. 23 | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Dollar General Bowl | Troy vs. Ohio | Mobile, Ala. | Dec. 23 | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
Hawaii Bowl | Hawaii vs. Middle Tenn. | Honolulu | Dec. 24 | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
St. Petersburg Bowl | Mississippi St. vs. Miami (Ohio) | , | Dec. 26 | 11 a.m. | ESPN |
Quick Lane Bowl | Boston College vs. Maryland | Detroit | Dec. 26 | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Independence Bowl | Vanderbilt vs. N.C. State | , | Dec. 26 | 5 p.m. | ESPN2 |
Heart of Dallas Bowl | North Texas vs. Army | Dallas | Dec. 27 | 12 p.m. | ESPN |
Military Bowl | Wake Forest vs. Temple | Annapolis, Md. | Dec. 27 | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Holiday Bowl | Washington St. vs. Minnesota | San Diego | Dec. 27 | 7 p.m. | ESPN |
Pinstripe Bowl | Northwestern vs. Pittsburgh | Bronx, N.Y. | Dec. 28 | 2 p.m. | ESPN |
Russell Athletic Bowl | Miami vs. West Virginia | Orlando | Dec. 28 | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Foster Farms Bowl | Utah vs. Indiana | Santa Clara, Calif. | Dec. 28 | 8:30 p.m. | Fox |
Advocare V100 Texas Bowl | Kansas St. vs. Texas A&M | Houston | Dec. 28 | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
Birmingham Bowl | South Carolina vs. South Florida | Birmingham, Ala. | Dec. 29 | 2 p.m. | ESPN |
Belk Bowl | Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas | , | Dec. 29 | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Alamo Bowl | Colorado vs. Oklahoma St. | San Antonio | Dec. 29 | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
Liberty Bowl | TCU vs. Georgia | Memphis | Dec. 30 | 12 p.m. | ESPN |
Sun Bowl | North Carolina vs. Stanford | El Paso | Dec. 30 | 2 p.m. | CBS |
Music City Bowl | Tennessee vs. Nebraska | Nashville | Dec. 30 | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Arizona Bowl | Air Force vs. South Alabama | Tucson | Dec. 30 | 5:30 p.m. | Campus Insiders |
Orange Bowl | Florida St. vs. Michigan | Miami Gardens, Fla. | Dec. 30 | 8 p.m. | |
Citrus Bowl | Louisville vs. LSU | Orlando | Dec. 31 | 11 a.m. | ABC |
Taxslayer Bowl | Kentucky vs. Georgia Tech | Jacksonville, Fla. | Dec. 31 | 11 a.m. | ESPN |
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Alabama vs. Washington | Atlanta | Dec. 31 | 3 p.m. | ESPN |
Fiesta Bowl | Clemson vs. Ohio State | Glendale, Ariz. | Dec. 31 | 7 p.m. | ESPN |
Cotton Bowl | Wisconsin vs. W. Michigan | Arlington, Texas | Jan. 2 | 1 p.m. | ESPN |
Outback Bowl | Iowa vs. Florida | Tampa | Jan. 2 | 1 p.m. | ABC |
Rose Bowl | Penn State vs. USC | Pasadena, Calif. | Jan. 2 | 5 p.m. | ESPN |
Sugar Bowl | Oklahoma vs. Auburn | New Orleans | Jan. 2 | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
CFP Championship | Teams TBA | Tampa | Jan. 9 | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.