2001 Maryland Terrapins football team

2001 Maryland Terrapins football
ACC champion
Orange Bowl, L 23–56 vs. Florida
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 11
Record	10–2 (7–1 ACC)
Head coach	Ralph Friedgen (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Charlie Taaffe (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Gary Blackney (1st season)
Home stadium	Byrd Stadium
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 11 Maryland $		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 15 Florida State		6	–	2					8	–	4
North Carolina		5	–	3					8	–	5
Clemson		4	–	4					7	–	5
No. 24 Georgia Tech		4	–	4					8	–	5
NC State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	5					6	–	5
Virginia		3	–	5					5	–	7
Duke		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in its 49th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Terps closed the regular season with a record of 10–1, with its only loss coming to Florida State. The Terps won the ACC championship and were granted a Bowl Championship Series berth in the 2002 Orange Bowl. It was Maryland's first bowl game since 1990, first winning season since 1995, and first conference championship since 1985.

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.^[1]

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).^[2]

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.^[2]

Maryland then defeated Troy State, 47–14.^[2] The Terrapins played the season's final home game against Clemson, which they defeated, 37–20, to ensure at least a share of the ACC championship.^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[2]

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.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	12:00 pm	North Carolina		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ABC	W 23–7	44,080
September 8	6:00 pm	Eastern Michigan*		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD		W 50–3	42,105
September 22	3:30 pm	at Wake Forest		Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC		W 27–20	22,372
September 29	12:00 pm	West Virginia*		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)		W 32–20	40,166
October 6	12:00 pm	Virginia	No. 25	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	JPS	W 41–21	44,197
October 11	7:30 pm	at No. 15 Georgia Tech	No. 22	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN	W 20–17 OT	40,574
October 20	1:00 pm	Duke	No. 12	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	JPS	W 59–17	43,528
October 27	3:30 pm	at No. 18 Florida State	No. 10	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	L 31–52	82,565
November 3	1:00 pm	Troy State*	No. 15	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD		W 47–14	38,415
November 10	7:00 pm	Clemson	No. 13	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ESPN2	W 37–20	52,462
November 17	7:45 pm	at NC State	No. 10	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ESPN	W 23–19	51,500
January 2	8:00 pm	vs. No. 5 Florida*	No. 6	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl)	ABC	L 23–56	73,640
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[5]

Roster

2001 Maryland Terrapins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL C.J. Brooks OL Lamar Bryant RB 9 Jason Crawford Fr OT 78 Matt Crawford Jr RB Chris Downs Sr TE 82 Jeff Dugan So RB Bernie Fiddler So TE 87 Ryan Flynn Fr C 67 Melvin Fowler Sr WR 21 Guilian Gary Sr QB Latrez Harrison Jr QB 14 Shaun Hill Sr QB Chris Kelley Fr RB Chad Killian Jr FB 5 James Lynch So WR Scooter Monroe TE 88 Matt Murphy Sr RB 22 Rich Parson Fr RB 1 Bruce Perry So RB Marc Riley Sr WR Ike Roberts Fr WR Maurice Shanks Fr WR Steve Suter Fr WR Daryl Whitmer Sr OL Todd Wike WR Jafar Williams So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Leroy Ambush So LB Kevin Bishop LB 51 Omid Janloo Fr DB Jamal Chance Jr LB 47 Jon Condo Fr CB 30 Curome Cox So DL C.J. Feldheim CB 6 Domonique Foxworth Fr LB Monte Graves CB 19 Richard Harrigan Sr LB 42 E. J. Henderson Jr DT 98 Charles Hill Sr DB Tony Jackson Sr LB 32 Leon Joe So DB Randall Jones Sr DB Rod Littles Sr LB Marlon Moore Sr DB 28 Mohammad Emamhosseini Sr CB 11 Tony Okanlawon Sr DL Durrand Roundtree DT 57 Randy Starks So DB Tyrone Stewart Jr DL Ryan Swift LB Aaron Thompson LB Mike Whaley DB Curtis Williams Fr S 34 Madieu Williams  Jr DB Dennard Wilson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 16 Brooks Barnard Jr K 46 Nick Novak Fr K Vedad Siljkovic Sr	Head coach Ralph Friedgen Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2001-11-07

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	25	22	12	10	15	13	10	8	7	7	6	11
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	25	20	14	12	16	11	9	9	7 т	7	6	10
BCS	Not released								8	—	15	12	12	11	10	10	Not released

Game summaries

North Carolina

North Carolina at Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Tar Heels 7 0 0 0 7 • Terrapins 7 2 0 14 23 Date: September 1 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game start: 12:10 pm EDT Elapsed time: 2:50 Game attendance: 44,080 Referee: Jack Childress Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 13:12 UNC Willie Parker 77-yard run (J. Reed kick) UNC 7–0 6:33 MD J. Williams 20-yard pass from S. Hill (N. Novak kick) Tied 7–7 2 11:43 MD Safety, T. Stewart MD 9–7 4 13:19 MD S. Monroe 5-yard pass from S. Hill (N. Novak kick) MD 16–7 6:35 MD M. Riley 1-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 23–7

Eastern Michigan

Eastern Michigan at Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 0 0 3 3 • Terrapins 13 14 14 9 50 Date: September 8 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game start: 6:08 pm EDT Elapsed time: 2:47 Game attendance: 42,105 Referee: James Knight

Scoring summary 1 10:07 MD B. Perry 8-yard run (B. Barnard run failed) MD 6–0 5:38 MD M. Riley 1-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 13–0 2 6:33 MD G. Gary 19-yard pass from S. Hill (S. Hill pass failed) MD 19–0 3:37 MD B. Perry 24-yard run (M. Shanks pass) MD 27–0 3 12:10 MD B. Perry 31-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 34–0 8:14 MD S. Hill 4-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 41–0 4 12:43 MD V. Siljkovic 44-yard field goal MD 44–0 8:54 EMU E. Klaban 44-yard field goal MD 44–3 5:07 MD J. Crawford 2-yard run (V. Siljkovic kick failed) MD 50–3

at Wake Forest

Maryland at Wake Forest

1 2 3 4 Total • Terrapins 7 3 7 10 27 Demon Deacons 3 0 7 10 20 Date: September 22 Location: Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC Game start: 3:38 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 22,372 Referee: Robert Wood III

Scoring summary 1 14:40 MD Bruce Perry 80-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 7–0 5:28 WF T. Ashe 25-yard field goal MD 7–3 2 8:30 MD Nick Novak 27-yard field goal MD 10–3 3 8:20 MD Marc Riley 1-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 17–3 1:47 WF T. Williams 11-yard run (T. Ashe kick) MD 17–10 4 12:31 MD Nick Novak 29-yard field goal MD 20–10 10:25 WF T. Ashe 37-yard field goal MD 20–13 8:38 MD Bruce Perry 50-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 27–13 6:54 WF J. Anderson 42-yard pass from J. MacPherson (T. Ashe kick) MD 27–20

West Virginia

West Virginia at Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Mountaineers 0 13 7 0 20 • Terrapins 7 12 6 7 32 Date: September 29 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game start: 12:05 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:06 Game attendance: 40,166 Referee: Gene Steratore

Virginia

Virginia at No. 25 Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Cavaliers 0 7 14 0 21 • No. 25 Terrapins 0 24 0 17 41 Date: October 6 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game start: 12:10 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 44,197 Referee: Robert Wood

at No. 15 Georgia Tech

Duke

at No. 19 Florida State

No. 10 Maryland at No. 19 Florida State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 10 Terrapins 7 10 14 0 31 • No. 19 Seminoles 0 21 10 21 52 Date: October 13 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL Game attendance: 82,836 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 MD James Lynch 65-yard run (Novak kick) MD 7–0 2 MD Marc Riley 1-yard run (Novak kick) MD 14–0 2 FSU Talman Gardner 16-yard pass from Chris Rix (Beitia kick) MD 14–7 2 FSU Michael Boulware 23-yard interception return (Beitia kick) Tied 14–14 2 FSU Gardner 9-yard pass from Rix (Beitia kick) FSU 21–14 2 0:00 MD Nick Novak 51-yard field goal FSU 21–17 3 MD Bruce Perry 8-yard run (Novak kick) MD 24–21 3 FSU Xavier Beitia 31-yard field goal Tied 24–24 3 6:50 FSU Greg Jones 4-yard run (Beitia kick) FSU 31–24 3 1:53 MD Shaun Hill 2-yard run (Novak kick) Tied 31–31 4 12:28 FSU Gardner 28-yard pass from Rix (Beitia kick) FSU 38–31 4 11:17 FSU Javon Walker 22-yard pass from Rix (Beitia kick) FSU 45–31 4 6:58 FSU Atrews Bell 32-yard pass from Rix (Beitia kick) FSU 52–31

^[6]

Troy State

^[7]

Clemson

Clemson at No. 13 Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 3 3 0 14 20 • No. 13 Terrapins 7 10 7 13 37 Date: November 10 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game start: 07:06 pm EST Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 52,462 Referee: Joseph Rider

^[8]

at NC State

No. 10 Maryland at NC State

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 10 Terrapins 0 3 7 13 23 Wolfpack 3 6 3 7 19 Date: November 17 Location: Carter–Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC Game start: 7:45 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:25 Game attendance: 51,500 Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C), Clear Referee: Joseph Rider Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 3:50 NCST A. Kiker 33-yard field goal NCST 3–0 2 10:40 NCST A. Kiker 23-yard field goal NCST 6–0 2 1:38 NCST A. Kiker 41-yard field goal NCST 9–0 2 0:05 MD Nick Novak 25-yard field goal NCST 9–3 3 8:51 MD Guilian Gary 5-yard pass from Shaun Hill (Novak kick) MD 10–9 3 3:45 NCST A. Kiker 27-yard field goal NCST 12–10 4 9:32 MD Shaun Hill 6-yard run (pass failed) MD 16–12 4 3:59 NCST C. Jackson 1-yard pass from Philip Rivers (Kiker kick) NCST 19–16 4 0:41 MD Guilian Gary 8-yard pass from Shaun Hill (Novak kick) MD 23–19

^[9]

vs. No. 5 Florida (Orange Bowl)

Team players in the NFL

The following players were selected in the 2002 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL team
Melvin Fowler	Center	3	76	Cleveland Browns
Charles Hill	Defensive tackle	3	83	Houston Texans
Matt Murphy	Tight end	7	252	Detroit Lions

^[10]

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

References