Maryland is expecting SECU Stadium to be full on Saturday night, and that means the Terps should get the kind of backdrop they’ve been chasing since the season opened.
Virginia Tech comes to College Park for the Hispanic Heritage Game, and the first sellout crowd of the year is set to arrive for what would be Maryland’s fourth Shell-Out in the last six home games. The setting is lined up for a national-stage atmosphere, and the people inside the stadium are a huge reason why.
Head coach Michael Locksley pointed straight to the student section when talking about what the Terps need.
“Our student section has been great over the last two or three years,” Locksley said. “They had even more of an impact in game one.
To see 10,000 students there was encouraging. They get it.
We will definitely need them to be here this weekend.”
Maryland’s home opener against Hampton on Sept. 5 gave fans a first look at the upgrades around SECU Stadium, from the newly named “The Shell” student section to the Terp Tank on the concourse and the expanded concession offerings. More than 43,000 people, including 10,000 students, showed up for the win, making it Maryland’s second-largest season-opening crowd since 2014.
Deputy Athletic Director/Chief Revenue Officer Joe LaBue said the opener showed exactly what the stadium can become when the students are locked in.
“The atmosphere for our home opener was incredible, and our students were a huge part of it,” LaBue said. “Their passion and engagement are contagious, and that’s what makes college athletics so special.
They don’t just attend the game; they help create the experience for everyone in the stadium. We saw what that can look and feel like in the opener, and now we want to build on it Saturday against Virginia Tech.
We need our students there early, loud, and ready to make it another special night at SECU Stadium.”
The fans who were there for Hampton felt it too.
Nyah Caine said the first night in the Terp Tank was unforgettable.
I learned the word rowdy because of that game. That was actually my first time being in the student section and it was rowdy.
The way the crowd made me feel in the Terp Tank allowed me to exemplify my energy toward them. I call it the dunk heard around the world.
For some longtime Maryland fans, the opener was proof that the buzz around this season has reached the stands. UMD senior Jackson Greenbaum said the packed building stood out because it came against an opponent that didn’t carry the usual marquee appeal.
“It was really impressive,” Greenbaum said. “I’ve gone to a handful of home games, and seeing the entire student section, as well as most of the rest of the stadium, being packed out was really refreshing, especially against a team that wasn’t necessarily a marquee opponent. People are just so excited for a refreshing, talented team that has high expectations.”
Greenbaum, a student in the sports management program in the business school, also had a simple message for his fellow students.
As a fan of the football team, there are certain things you can't control. You can't control what's going on on the field, but you can control showing up, coming with friends, telling your family to pull up, bringing as much energy as you can, and sticking around and enjoying everything there is to do at the game.
Be a part of it. You're in college, you're paying tuition.
You might as well take advantage of the fun things that can be done.
That attitude fits right in with the way Maryland fans have already shown up around College Park. Quinn Savitt, who runs The Crew - Maryland soccer’s student section - said the support across the school’s sports venues has helped create a real edge.
“It’s clear the difference in performance that the teams have when they have the full support of their fans,” Savitt said. “Our teams always look better than their opponents because our crowd pushes them to the max. When we have full stadiums and big crowds, we pull off something special.”
Evan Johnson, another lifelong Maryland fan, said the Hampton crowd left a lasting impression on him as well. He called it emotional to see the Shell full, loud and invested for a game like that.
“Seeing a packed stadium for an opponent like Hampton, seeing the shell packed, loud and into the game, that almost brought a tear to my eye,” Johnson said. “Through my eyes, these fans and these students had every reason not to show up, and they still did. That's how you know something you're doing is working.”
Johnson, who works with multiple organizations’ game day teams, said he also noticed the Terp Tank and the presence of the men’s basketball team.
“I think the Terp Tank definitely brought some people out,” Johnson said. “It was nice to see the men’s basketball team there. I think the promise of Malik Washington and the excitement of the season created the perfect storm, and all of that was displayed.”
Now Maryland gets another chance to feed off that energy, this time under the lights against Virginia Tech. The Terps have the setting they want. The only thing left is for the crowd to turn it into something even louder.
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