MIAMI -- The Maryland Terrapins are treating their trip to the FedEx Orange Bowl as an unexpected gift.

"Our primary goal was just to make it to a bowl game. We kind of overachieved and surpassed our goal," said running back Bruce Perry, who was held out of Friday's practice with a strained abdominal muscle.

Perry, the Atlantic Coast Conference offensive player of the year, has no intention of missing the Terrapins' first major bowl game in 25 years. But he might not have a choice if he's not better by next week.

"Right now, I don't know if he's going to play. If he don't practice, he don't play, I can tell you that," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said.

Florida, unlike Maryland, had bigger plans for the New Year. The fifth-ranked Gators hoped to be in Pasadena, playing for the national championship in the Rose Bowl.

The Gators (9-2) still haven't completely shaken the disappointment of their 34-32 loss to Tennessee on Dec. 1, ending Florida's title hopes.

"It seems like our players' spirits are back pretty close to where they were in the regular season," coach Steve Spurrier said Friday. "Sometimes when you lose your last one, it takes a little while to get over it. I think we're over it."

Although the Gators are 16-point favorites, they can't afford to be thinking about the Tennessee game when facing Maryland on Wednesday night.

"It's not like you're never going to get over it," Gators quarterback Rex Goodman said, "but it's just one of those things that you have to put behind you for right now. We have to come in prepared for Maryland.

"We can't get this year back, but we're just going to use that as motivation, learn from it and hopefully it will make us better in the future."

The Gators should benefit from the return of running back Earnest Graham, who missed the Tennessee game with an injured right knee but performed well in Friday's practice.

"Earnest ran around pretty decently. He's got a little wrap on his knee," Spurrier said.

Graham ran for 650 yards and scored nine touchdowns this season. But his importance to the Gators could be better measured by these numbers: Florida was 9-0 when he played, 0-2 without him.

While the Gators will use the next few days to get in the proper frame of mind for Wednesday's kickoff, the Terrapins (10-1) must make sure to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground. Given that this is the school's first bowl of any sort since the 1990 Independence Bowl, Maryland runs the risk of becoming blinded by the lights at Pro Player Stadium.

"I'm concerned about that," Friedgen said.

Friedgen was an assistant coach under Bobby Ross in 1994, when the San Diego Chargers reached the Super Bowl for the first time. The Chargers absorbed a lopsided beating by the San Francisco 49ers, and Friedgen couldn't help but draw a comparison to the Terrapins' current situation.

"It's ironic that when I was with San Diego, we played a Super Bowl in the same stadium, and I think that happened to us," he said. "I don't think you can coach how to play in the Super Bowl unless you've been there before."

And it's impossible to know what it's like to play in a BCS bowl game unless you've got some experience to draw upon. So the Terrapins will simply do the best they can to enter in the proper frame of mind.

"That's going to be a major thing for us, keeping our focus. No one here is used to this kind of situation," quarterback Shaun Hill said. "We have to really understand what our job is. We're not here to see the sights, we're not here to enjoy the atmosphere. We're here to win a football game."