Music City Bowl President Scott Ramsey on Auburn-Maryland QB matchup
Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa will lead Maryland and Payton Thorne will lead Auburn in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium.
Auburn football and Maryland will play in the Music City Bowl.
The Tigers (6-6) and Terps (7-5) square off in the game at Nissan Stadium on Dec. 30 (1 p.m. CT, ABC). It will be the first time in 40 years the two teams have played against each other.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Auburn and Maryland to our game this year,” said Scott Ramsey, President & CEO of the Music City Bowl in a news release Sunday. “As we look forward to the unique matchup, we hope it will become another memorable chapter in the history of our bowl game and for Nashville as a whole, as we welcome back Auburn and introduce Maryland and its fans to our great city.”
Auburn, in its first season under coach Hugh Freeze, finished in fifth place in the SEC West with a 3-5 league record. The Tigers are coming off back-to-back losses to New Mexico State (31-1) and Alabama (27-24) in a game in which the Crimson Tide completed a 31-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 32 seconds left to play.
Key offensive contributors for Auburn include junior quarterback Payton Thorne, who threw for 1,671 yards and 15 touchdowns in the regular season, junior running back Jarquez Hunter with 865 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, and junior tight-end Rivaldo Fairweather, who had 349 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
Maryland was fourth in the Big Ten at 4-5. The Terps are coming off a 42-24 win over Rutgers.
The Terrapins feature senior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Taulia has thrown for 3,307 yards and 25 touchdowns. Other key contributors include sophomore running back Roman Hemby with 668 rushing yards and three touchdowns, senior wide receiver Jeshaun Jones with 747 receiving yards, and senior defensive backs Beau Brade and Tarheeb Still, with 72 tackles and five interceptions, respectively.
This will be Auburn’s third time to play in the Music City Bowl. The Tigers defeated Wisconsin 28-14 in the 2003 Music City Bowl and Purdue 63-14 in 2018.
Maryland has never played in the Music City Bowl.
Auburn leads the series against Maryland 2-1. Maryland won the first game in the series, 13-7 in 1952, which was played in Birmingham, Alabama. Auburn won at home 20-7 in 1958 and 35-23 at home in 1983.
This will be Auburn’s first bowl game since losing to Northwestern 35-19 in the 2021 Citrus Bowl. It will be Maryland’s third straight bowl game. The Terps beat North Carolina State 16-12 in the 2022 Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Virginia Tech 54-10 in the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl.
Iowa beat Kentucky 21-0 in the 2022 Music City Bowl.
This will be the 26th Music City Bowl.
SEC teams have won nine Music City Bowls. Big Ten teams have won five.
For tickets visit bit.ly/3uDzwMF. Both teams’ athletics departments will handle their school’s ticket allotments, with information to come soon.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
