I know what you’re thinking…
It’s just blue turf.
Heck, even Terp coach Ralph Friedgen was thinking it after his first team’s first practice on the surface this afternoon.
“It’s just FieldTurf,” the eighth-year coach said of the field where the 12th annual Humanitarian Bowl will be played Tuesday. “It’s the same stuff we got. It’s painted blue.”
But just maybe it’s a little bit more.
Senior defensive end Jeremy Navarre said he’s never played on anything but green. Senior center Edwin Williams worried that if the Terps wore red, it would clash with the blue.
“I would’ve never thought I’d be playing on it,” said cornerback Jamari McCollough, who had become familiar with Bronco Stadium’s SmurfTurf during Boise State’s recent surge to prominence. “Now I’m going to get an opportunity.”
There’s a display inside the bowels of the stadium that has all the answers.
According to the display, which features swatches of the original blue AstroTurf all the way to the state of the art surface installed this summer, the surface was devised as a celebration of Boise State’s “blue-collar” work ethic.
Legend has it that the NCAA banned all color turf except for green in the wake of Boise State’s statement. According to the display, that is false. Some say that ducks and geese land on the field frequently thinking that it is a lake at the foot of the mountains surrounding the town. But that too is a lie.
It makes for one of the most talked about fields in all of college football. Friedgen said he’s even had requests to turn the Byrd Stadium sod into a Terp red if and when the Terps go to FieldTurf.
That’s not going to happen, but after Tuesday, the Terps will be able to tell their own blue turf tales.
“I’m anticipating Nevada is going to come out dressed in all blue, so that may add a problem or two” Friedgen said. “But we’re dressing in white, so if it snows again, we’ll be in good shape.”
edetweilerdbk@gmail.com