Crab Bowl Classic

Crab Bowl Classic
First meetingOctober 25, 1905
Navy 17, Maryland 0
Latest meetingSeptember 6, 2010
Maryland 17, Navy 14
Next meetingTBA
TrophyThe Crab Bowl[1]
Statistics
Meetings total21
All-time seriesNavy leads, 14–7
Largest victoryNavy 76, Maryland 0 (1913)
Longest win streakNavy, 8 (1905–1930)
Current win streakMaryland 2 (2005–present)
Locations of Maryland and Navy

The Crab Bowl Classic is the name given to the Maryland–Navy football rivalry.[2] It is an American college football rivalry between the Maryland Terrapins football team of the University of Maryland and the Navy Midshipmen football team of the United States Naval Academy. The two institutions, located in close proximity in the state of Maryland, first met for a football game in 1905. Since then, the series has often been marked by controversy, with incidents by players and supporters occurring both on and off the field.[3][4] The winner of the game is awarded the Crab Bowl trophy.[1]

Navy dominated the series early by winning the first eight games, between 1905 and 1930, which remains the longest streak. Maryland secured its first win in 1931 at a neutral site in Washington, D.C. After two more meetings, the series was suspended in 1934 when the Maryland administration protested a play.

The teams met again in 1950 when Navy had a last-minute opening in its schedule. The Terrapins won three consecutive games from 1950 to 1952, and the Midshipmen won three from 1958 to 1963. During the 1964 game, a Maryland player twice flashed an obscene gesture, which prompted Navy to cancel the series again. After contractual obligations were fulfilled with the following year's game, the series was put on hiatus for 40 years. Maryland and Navy finally resumed the rivalry in 2005 and again in 2010, with the Terps winning both contests.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TheCrabBowl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Navy and Maryland to Open 2010 Football Season on Labor Day".
  3. ^ Rick Snider, Ill will lingers at Navy, Maryland; Rivalry to restart in Crab Bowl, The Washington Times, page 1, August 29, 2005.
  4. ^ Alex Baldinger, Terps meet Navy at Baltimore stadium, The Diamondback, August 31, 2005, accessed November 18, 2008.
  5. ^ Maryland 23, Navy 20[dead link], ESPN, Associated Press, September 3, 2005, accessed November 20, 2008.
  6. ^ Maryland stuns Navy 17–14, YahooSports.com, September 6, 2010, accessed September 12, 2010.