A week after Rutgers broke a four-game losing skid with a 26-19 win vs. Minnesota, a sizeable BREP Nation tailgate contingent and several others made the 200-mile trip to College Park for a fantastic tailgate and to give the Scarlet Knights a spiritual lift against the host Twerps.
 |
Early birds get the worm...
but we forgot the tequila |
 |
Fantastic food, football,
and friendships! |
Rutgers came through with a convincing 31-17 win vs. Maryland, running its record to 6-4 and ensuring bowl eligibility for the second straight season.
Everything worked as planned (including for Coach Schiano's squad), with about 25 folks tailgating for 3+ hours on the sunny 60-degree afternoon in a mostly vacant lot near the Clark Engineering school.
The crew set up camp by 2:30 p.m., with Basil arriving suspiciously early with Fitzgerald Quad representative and newly minted attorney Alexa, who lives in nearby Bethesda and, true to form, showed a Pavlovian response at one point to nearby ambulence sirens. Legal representation opportunities were put on hold to instead relax and enjoy the tailgate.
 |
| Basil & Alexa |
The menu was heavy on Central Jersey cheesesteaks, with
Hobo grilling 10-plus of the 12 pounds of great cuts from Red Bank's Monmouth Meats and topped with three pounds of cheddar and provolone cheeses and accompanied by sauteed onions, all stuffed into fresh Nino's Bakery rolls purchased right from company headquarters in West Long Branch before the drive down Friday afternoon by
Bill,
Kathy, and
Logan.
Sides were abundant, including homefries, Cotter-made tortilla wraps, macaroni salad, chips and dips, veggie platter, Tom's boujee DC-area donuts, several desserts, beer (need to give a shoutout to Baltimore's National Bohemian, a.k.a. Natty Boh), wine, and Legrand bourbon.
Weather couldn't have been more perfect to spend a mid-November afternoon. Plenty of sunshine, only minor breezes. Unfortunately, Shane (known in a small circle within the BREP Nation community as "Stan from College Park" or "Los-Rez BRES") forgot to bring the custom-made UMD cornhole boards, though he needed the room in his Honda Fit to squeeze in his crew; it looked like a clown car situation upon arrival to the tailgate lot.
 |
Shane, Zack, Harrison,
Thomas (holding Shane-
head), Owen & Logan |
 |
| I fed you ****ers |
Anyway, Shane's Tinton Falls-area/MAST crew making the roadtrip included
Harrison (recent transfer to Rutgers, sans NIL funds),
Zack,
Thomas, and
Owen. The boys spent the weekend at Shane, fall 2024 UMD graduate Pat, and Tommy's place in Old Town College Park, where we later learned that 30+ revelers raided their liquor, donuts, and donuts into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Back to the tailgate...it was an eclectic and energized crew.
Pat's mom Cheryl Seeley, twin sister Megan, and cousin Kenzie were first to park in lot XX1 and, according to BREP Nation sources, spent time before the tailgate touring campus.
For those who've never been, it's an outstanding state university backdrop. UMD is configured in a gigantic rectangle mostly to the west of Route 1. It's spacious, leafy, and rather walkable (unless you're a freshman engineering student who has to schlep yourself 20 minutes by foot to class on a regular basis as Shane experienced from the dreadful Easton Hall). Route 1 is a heavily trafficked route to DC and houses the best of College Park's hotels, eateries, and bars.
 |
| Kathy & Team Seeley |
Reports also suggest that, following their walkabout, the visiting Seeley trio plus Basil, Alexa, and
Pat and
Dana Cotter of the Cherry Hill, NJ, Cotters arrived almost simultaneously to the tailgate, still missing its organizer, stuck in traffic after grabbing most of the key supplies. We would be remiss to not give the Cotters props for their tasty food contributions plus Pat's impromptu DJ-ing, where the group's satisfaction rate with his selections was 82%.
 |
Bill, Ed, Pat, Aaron & Basil
causing more trouble |
Current Maryland residents and RU alums were prominent. Bill's first college acquaintance (
he approached this blogger on the fourth floor first-day dormitory meetup, since I sported long hair and an Anthrax shirt and he had heavy metal sensibilities) and sophomore year roomie (
plus his drum kit and one other guy)
Aaron Auerbach and son
Ben joined the Nation. Fellow Frelinghuysen freshman year dorm mate
Ed Summers, along with wife
Kesa and UMD senior son
Charlie, also joined. It was great seeing Ed for the first time in, like, 30 years and meeting some of his family! We didn't miss a beat.
 |
| #bELieve52 toast |
In keeping with the great tradition established this season by Dana, BREP Nation's resident Master of Bourbon and RU Recruiting Bullshit, the UMD crew toasted Rutgers' spiritual leader Eric Legrand with shots of his fine Kentucky bourbon; killed the bottle with this many toasters. Our toast and X post to Eric and his distilling company were well-received and we hope will increase visibility for his tasty, affordable spirits.
Once the extended tailgate wrapped up, the crew made the 15-minute walk to SECU Stadium, which was heavy on Rutgers fans. Many, like us, picked up discount field-level tickets (under $40) near the 50-yardline off of SeatGeek, presumably from season pass holders who bailed on Maryland football for the 2024 season (
the Twerps failed to make a bowl game). The bailing theme continued, especially after halftime, as it seemed that large portions of UMD faithless deserted their squad by the middle of the third quarter. BREP Nation sources watching on TV said audible pro-Rutgers chants could be heard on the broadcast. That's right. It was us. High 5's, all!
 |
View from the cheap (but
GREAT) seats...go RU!!! |
In the end, Rutgers pulled away with 10 fourth-quarter points to wrap up a 14-point win. Most of our crew made it through the entire game and strolled confidently back to the lot without incident.
As fatigue from our A+ tailgate and in-stadium cheering effort got the best of us, we then said our goodbyes. The kids, however, found the energy to party into the night, celebrating a fantastic Rutgers win no doubt, while Bill and Kathy hit the gas station taco truck next to the hotel for late-night snacks and an impromptu meetup with Steve (an actual Sir Henry mascot in the 1980s) from the Scarlet Fever apparel shop in New Brunswick.
We'll be sure to run this back again, whether in College Park or at Rutgers. Thanks to everyone for attending to make a memorable day, and here's to everyone's health and more good times...go RU!!!
 |
| Logan with friend Maggie, who joined us pregame |
 |
Bill and Tom, who for those that don't know
bleeds Scarlet and drives 3-4 hours from DC
to most Rutgers football homegames |
 |
| Proud momma Kathy with her son |
 |
| Harrison and Kathy bringing the smiles! |
 |
Zack and Thomas enjoying Natty Bo, unofficial
beer sponsor of BREP Nation UMD tailgates |
 |
| Shane knowing UMD's fate well in advance |
 |
| Representing RU and UMD |
 |
| Festive crowd shot |
 |
| An Auerbach-Cotter selfme from the seats |
 |
| Alexa and Baz showing their gamefaces |
 |
| The happy Hobos |
 |
Kathy, dealing 25+ years with
Bill's Rutgers sports bullshit |
 |
Pissed off UMD fans (top right) NOT happy
about the Rutgers fan invasion; Shane a true sport |
 |
| Cherry Hill natives Pat & A-a-ron |
 |
Really love these 2 shots
by Tommy w/... |
 |
| ...happy campers! |
