 Both teams had a bye the previous week; however, Maryland was unable to take advantage of the week off and came out of the game with a 59-0 blow out loss to their rivals up north.The Maryland–Virginia football rivalry was a designated official ACC cross-divisional series when Maryland was an ACC member and the teams have a long-standing rivalry due to proximity and history.The programs also vie for recruits in the same region, and more recently, an additional factor has been the schools' academic competition.