Maryland (2-5, 1-3 ACC) and Boston College (1-6, 0-4) have combined to defeat just one Football Bowl Subdivision team — the Miami team that was without eight key players because of suspensions. Expecting fans to shell out money for tickets in a sluggish economy remains a nationwide issue. And the weather forecast for Saturday’s game could not be more ominous: cold rain with the possibility of snow.
Said Tim Downs, Maryland’s fifth-year long snapper, who attended high school near Pittsburgh: “I think Maryland fans can be like the Pittsburgh Pirates’ fans. When they win, they are your best friend. When they lose, there is nobody there.”
Downs made clear that when he looks up in the stands during pregame warmups Saturday, he expects to see a nearly filled stadium because attendance in five home games has been “phenomenal.”
The 54,000-seat Byrd Stadium has been almost 89 percent full this season, compared with 76 percent during the resurgent 2010 season. After school officials watched season ticket sales decline during the final years of Ralph Friedgen’s 10-year tenure, they saw a modest improvement for Edsall’s first season.
The Terrapins have also been aided by an attractive home schedule that included a national brand in Miami, a longtime regional rival in West Virginia and undefeated Clemson. The Miami and West Virginia games drew two of the eight largest crowds in stadium history.
Edsall said he has been pleased with this season’s attendance. When asked why fans should show up Saturday given the team’s record, he pointed to Maryland’s offense, which has at times been exciting if not always effective; a defense that has scored touchdowns; and what he called a consistent high level of effort by players.
“These kids are going out there and are giving everything that they can for Maryland and for the people in the state of Maryland,” Edsall said. “That is the thing that I think they should be rewarded by people coming and watching them play.”
On Saturday, when temperatures are expected to plummet into the 30s, Maryland officials will be able to take the temperature of its fan base.
“A Clemson fan on one of the message boards I think had it right when he said the reason Maryland won’t ever sustain a long-term top 25 program is because the local fan base throws in the towel way too soon and starts bashing the program at the drop of a hat,” Erik Greenstein, who played center for the Terrapins in the mid-1990s, said of Maryland’s fans. “We’re too quick to thumb our noses when we should do our best to support the program through both the good and the bad.”
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