Football: Terps Head to Chapel Hill with Bowl Hopes
11/6/2000 7:00:00 AM | Football
Maryland vs. UNC Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Nov. 6, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland football team heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., this weekend to face the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup with possible bowl implications for both schools. Maryland is coming off of one of its most thrilling victories in years, a 35-28 double overtime win against the NC State Wolfpack at Byrd Stadium. With a win this weekend, the Terrapins will clinch their fourth-straight conference win and achieve bowl eligibility, while North Carolina can keep its bowl hopes alive with a victory.
Maryland heads to Chapel Hill with a 5-4 record (3-3, ACC), while UNC is 4-5 (2-3 ACC) after coming up with a big 20-17 win at Pittsburgh after going in with four straight losses.
The game will be televised by JP Sports and will be broadcast locally by WTEM (980 AM) and WBAL (1090 AM).
The Terrapin win over NC State had many notable events. First, it was the Terps' first-ever overtime game and the win was also Maryland's third straight in conference, a feat reached for the first time by UM since 1985.
The NC State win came in the same fashion that the last few have - with strong defense. Maryland allowed 21 points through four quarters to the Wolfpack (who were averaging 36 coming in) and held NCSU scoreless in three of the four quarters in regulation.
Senior LaMont Jordan continued his tendency toward big late-season rushing efforts as he ran for 101 yards on 25 carries while catching four balls for 53 yards and scoring a critical game-tying touchdown in overtime. The 101-yard performance marked the 17th time in his career that he has surpassed the century mark, second most in Maryland history, and also gave him enough yards to move into the fourth spot on the ACC's all-time rushing list.
The Jordan Watch
LaMont Jordan, a unanimous preseason first team All-American in preview magazines nationwide, rushed for a school-record 1,632 yards as a junior and against West Virginia this season officially became the leading rusher in school history. He trails only TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson among active NCAA career rushing leaders.
-- Although he will not likely gain the 578 yards needed to become the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time rushing leader, Jordan can still make headway in the conference's record books. Currently fourth, Jordan can realistically get as high as second as he needs 371 to surpass UNC's Amos Lawrence (`77-80) in the two slot. He is also nearing the NCAA's all-time Top 50.
Terp Coach Ron Vanderlinden
Terrapin head coach Ron Vanderlinden (Albion College `78) is in his fourth season at Maryland, guiding the re-shaping efforts from a run-and-shoot offense to a power run game and more balanced, physical attack. After helping rebuild struggling programs at Colorado (1983-91) and Northwestern (1992-96), Vanderlinden is 15-27 as a college head coach. He was named the Terps' field boss in December of 1996.
Vanderlinden, 44, arrived in College Park after a five-year stint as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Gary Barnett at Northwestern where the Wildcats won a pair of Big Ten championships and made a 1996 Rose Bowl appearance. As defensive line coach in nine seasons under Bill McCartney at CU, the Buffaloes won the 1990 national championship, three Big Eight titles, and six bowl games.
Counting two years at Michigan, Vanderlinden has coaching experience in 10 major bowl games.
Vanderlinden's teams at Maryland have been characterized by vast improvements made to the rushing game and the overall defense. In 1998, Maryland was the sixth-most improved rushing team in America, and among the top 15 most improved teams in the country in total, scoring and pass defense. Last season, the Terps completed a "worst-to-first" ascent among ACC rushing leaders, climbing to a league-best 231.4 yards per game after ranking ninth in 1997.
UNC Coach Carl Torbush
Carl Torbush (Carson-Newman, `74) is in his third year as head coach of the University of North Carolina football team. Torbush took over for Mack Brown when Brown left for Texas at the end of the 1998 season. The job is Torbush's second as a head coach and came on the heels of his reign as the team's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 1988-97 (he still serves as the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator).
Torbush currently has a career record of 18-26 (15-18 at North Carolina).
Prior to his appointment at UNC, Torbush served for one year (1987) as the head coach at Louisiana Tech. His coaching roots in the south do not end there, however, as he got his start as a graduate assistant at Baylor (1975), was linebackers and defensive ends coach at Southeastern Louisiana (1976-79), was Louisiana Tech's assistant head coach (1980-82), and a defensive coordinator at Ole Miss (1983-86) before returning to Tech.
A three-year letterwinner in football and four-year letterwinner in baseball at Carson-Newman, Torbush was an All-America in both sports and has been inducted into the Carson-Newman and Knoxville (Tenn.) Sports Halls of Fame.
What's Ahead
The Terrapins return to Byrd Stadium on November 18 for the final regular season game of 2000 as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come to town.
North Carolina will head across town for its final game of the year as the Heels will take on Duke in Durham.
Gameday at Byrd / Promotions
Nationwide Insurance is the game sponsor for the Georgia Tech game. The final home game of 2000 is Baltimore Boys Scout Day and baseball caps will be given away to the first 5,000 fans to enter the stadium.
Byrd Turns 50!
Byrd Stadium celebrates its 50th birthday as home of the Maryland Terrapins in 2000. Constructed in 1950 at a cost of $1 million, Byrd Stadium first opened on Sept. 30, 1950 when Maryland defeated in-state rival Navy 35-21 in the dedication game before a school-record crowd of 43,386 fans.
Byrd has since undergone a series of major facelifts, three of which occurred in the 1990s and resulted in its present form.
Situated at the foot of the campus' North Hill, the stadium is named for Dr. H.C. "Curley" Byrd, a multi-sport athlete as an undergraduate who later became head football coach and eventually served as university president. Beginning its 51st season, Maryland has posted an all-time record of 154-98-1 (.609) in games at Byrd Stadium.
Ticket Information
Individual game tickets for home games may be purchased locally at any Ticketmaster outlet or by visiting the Maryland ticket office at Cole Field House. Tickets also may be purchased online at www.Ticketmaster.com.
Call 800-462-TERP for questions, or to order by phone.
