Maryland Football Season Starts Saturday: See Terps Schedule

COLLEGE PARK, MD — NCAA Division I college football begins this weekend. University of Maryland fans are eager to kick off the season.

Maryland will open Saturday with a home game against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Fans are encouraged to wear white clothes, as that match-up is a white-out.

A black-out will follow on Oct. 1 for family night against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Homecoming will feature an Oct. 30 battle with the Indiana Hoosiers. The Terrapins will face the Michigan Wolverines for senior day on Nov. 20.

The Terps did not earn any votes in the preseason Associated Press or USA Today/Coaches polls.

Defending national champion Alabama has the AP poll’s No. 1 ranking. The Crimson Tide are followed by Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia in the top five.

The USA Today/Coaches preseason poll has the No. 2 and No. 3 teams switched, with Clemson ranked ahead of Oklahoma there. Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia have the same preseason rank in both polls.

College football returns to a more traditional schedule in 2021, a year after the coronavirus forced many cancellations and schedule changes.

Last year, most games were limited to conference play. The Big Ten, which Maryland is a part of, and the Pac-12 started their seasons late.

Even Notre Dame, long known as a football independent, joined the Atlantic Coast Conference for one season to keep playing during the pandemic. The Fighting Irish are back as an independent this year.

Full Terps Schedule

• Saturday, Sept. 4: West Virginia Mountaineers (Home at 3:30 p.m.)
• Saturday, Sept. 11: Howard Bison (Home at 7:30 p.m.)
• Friday, Sept. 17: Illinois Fighting Illini (Road at 9 p.m.)
• Saturday, Sept. 25: Kent State Golden Flashes (Home at TBA time)
• Friday, Oct. 1: Iowa Hawkeyes (Home at 8 p.m.)
• Saturday, Oct. 9: Ohio State Buckeyes (Road at 12 p.m.)
• Saturday, Oct. 16: Bye week
• Saturday, Oct. 23: Minnesota Golden Gophers (Road at TBA time)
• Saturday, Oct. 30: Indiana Hoosiers (Home at 12 p.m.)
• Saturday, Nov. 6: Penn State Nittany Lions (Home at TBA time)
• Saturday, Nov. 13: Michigan State Spartans (Road at TBA time)
• Saturday, Nov. 20: Michigan Wolverines (Home at TBA time)
• Saturday, Nov. 27: Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Road at TBA time)

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