2001 Maryland Terrapins football team

Preseason

In 2001, despite the Terrapins' disappointing recent finishes, Ralph Friedgen inherited a good situation as their new head coach. His predecessor, Ron Vanderlinden, and the Maryland team had just barely fallen shy of winning seasons for the last two years in a row. Additionally, the 2001 squad was returning many experienced, quality players.

Regular season

Maryland won its first four games, including against strong conference competitor Wake Forest (27–20) and regional rival West Virginia (32–20), to earn a spot in the AP rankings for the first time since September 1995, at #25. The Terrapins then met their main rival Virginia in College Park, and beat them by a 20-point margin (41–21).

The Terps went on to Atlanta to face #15 Georgia Tech. With 5 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, and Maryland trailing 17–14, the Terps were forced to try for the tying field goal from 46 yards. Their kicker, redshirt freshman Nick Novak, had earlier missed a field goal attempt, bouncing it off an upright, and had an overall unimpressive record in his early career. However, Novak made the 46-yard field goal, sending the game into overtime, where he again made good on a 26-yard field goal, winning the game for Maryland (20–17). By the end of his college career Novak would go on to become the ACC all-time leading point scorer with 393 points, and capture the ACC record for 80 field goals.

After sailing past Duke (59–17) on Homecoming weekend, then #10 Maryland traveled to Tallahassee to face #18 Florida State. Despite being tied through the third quarter (31–31), Florida State handed Maryland their only defeat (52–31) during the season, dropping their AP ranking to #15.

Maryland then defeated Troy State, 47–14. The following week, Maryland secured the ACC title outright when quarterback Shaun Hill threw a short touchdown pass to Guilian Gary in the front corner of the end zone with 41 seconds remaining to defeat NC State, 23–19. The Terrapins closed the regular season ranked #6 in the nation and first in the conference, with a record of 10–1 (ACC: 7–1). The Terrapins, having secured the 2001 ACC championship, became the first time any team other than Florida State had won it outright since Florida State entered the conference in 1991. Additionally, Ralph Friedgen became the only first-year coach to ever win the ACC title.

Postseason

As ACC champions, the Terps earned a berth in the Orange Bowl to face Steve Spurrier's #5 Florida out of the SEC, in a BCS match-up. The Gators beat the Terrapins with a lop-sided result (56–23). Thus, Maryland ended the post-season with a 10–2 record, ranked #10 in the nation.

Schedule

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Roster

Rankings

Game summaries

North Carolina

Eastern Michigan

at Wake Forest

West Virginia

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Virginia

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at No. 15 Georgia Tech

Duke

Troy State

Clemson

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at NC State

vs. No. 5 Florida (Orange Bowl)

Main article: 2002 Orange Bowl

;First quarter

• FLA – Earnest Graham 1-yard run (Jeff Chandler kick), 9:51. ''Florida 7–0. '''Drive: 10 plays, 83 yards, 3:59.'''''
• FLA – Taylor Jacobs 46-yard pass from Brock Berlin (Jeff Chandler kick), 0:12. ''Florida 14–0. '''Drive: 2 plays, 55 yards, 0:47.'''''
• MD – Jafar Williams 64-yard pass from Shaun Hill (Nick Novak kick), 0:00. ''Florida 14–7. '''Drive: 1 play, 69 yards, 0:12.''''' ;Second quarter
• MD – Nick Novak 20-yard field goal, 12:20. ''Florida 14–10. '''Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 0:45.'''''
• FLA – Taylor Jacobs 15-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Jeff Chandler kick), 2:18. ''Florida 21–10. '''Drive: 10 plays, 72 yards, 3:45.'''''
• FLA – Jabar Gaffney 4-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Jeff Chandler kick), 0:03. ''Florida 28–10. '''Drive: 6 plays, 64 yards, 1:21.''''' ;Third quarter
• FLA – Earnest Graham 6-yard run (Jeff Chandler kick), 11:02. ''Florida 35–10. '''Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 3:38.'''''
• FLA – Robert Gillespie 11-yard run (Jeff Chandler kick), 7:26. ''Florida 42–10. '''Drive: 4 plays, 74 yards, 1:29.'''''
• FLA – Jabar Gaffney 33-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Jeff Chandler kick), 2:52. ''Florida 49–10. '''Drive: 2 plays, 68 yards, 0:19.''''' ;Fourth quarter
• MD – Marc Riley 1-yard run (Nick Novak kick), 11:56. ''Florida 49–17. '''Drive: 15 plays, 71 yards, 5:56.'''''
• FLA – Carlos Perez 10-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Jeff Chandler kick), 10:16. ''Florida 56–17. '''Drive: 4 plays, 69 yards, 1:40.'''''
• MD – Marc Riley 10-yard run (pass failed), 5:10. ''Florida 56–23. '''Drive: 14 plays, 80 yards, 5:06.''''' ;Top passers
• FLA – Rex Grossman – 20/28, 248 yards, 3 TD
• MD – Shaun Hill – 23/39, 257 yards, INT ;Top rushers
• FLA – Earnest Graham – 16 rushes, 149 yards, 2 TD
• MD – Shaun Hill – 11 rushes, 31 yards ;Top receivers
• FLA – Taylor Jacobs – 10 receptions, 170 yards, 2 TD
• MD – Matt Murphy – 5 receptions, 42 yards

Team players in the NFL

The following players were selected in the 2002 NFL draft.

Quarterback Shaun Hill was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

References

References

1. "2001 Season Media Guide". University of Maryland Terrapins football official website.
2. "2001 Season Results". University of Maryland Terrapins football official website.
3. (November 11, 2001). "Terrapins Play Like Champs". [[The Washington Times]].
4. Delong, John. (November 25, 2005). "Pack Has Struggled Against Terps; With Bowl Eligibility on the Line for Both, It Will Likely Be Another Close Game". [[Winston-Salem Journal]].
5. "Year-By-Year Results 1960-Present". University of Maryland.
6. (November 3, 2001). "No. 15 Terrapins Roll Over Troy State, 47-14".
7. (November 10, 2001). "Terps Throttle Tigers, 37-20".
8. (November 17, 2001). "Terps Win First ACC Title In 16 Years With 23-19 Win Over NC State".
9. "2002 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com.