Terrapins Open Football Season With Temple This Week At Byrd
9/3/2000 8:00:00 AM | Football
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Sept. 3, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Ron Vanderlinden begins his fourth season as head football coach of the Maryland Terrapins this week when Vandy and the Terps host visiting Temple in the 2000 season opener. Maryland, 5-6 in 1999 and just one game shy of bowl qualification, hopes to win for the fourth straight season over the Owls. Kickoff from Byrd Stadium in College Park is 6 p.m.
Maryland enters the 2000 campaign with one of its most talented lineups in recent years, and heavy reason for optimism in the form of 15 returning starters -- including highly-touted senior tailback LaMont Jordan (Forestville, Md.), a Top 10 candidate for the Heisman Trophy and the nation's leading active career rusher.
Jordan, with 3,227 career rushing yards to his credit, has rushed for 100 yards or more in eight consecutive games on the Byrd Stadium turf. The 5-11, 220-pound power back set a one-time career rushing high with 138 yards against Temple at Byrd two seasons ago. Last season, while playing sparingly against the Owls in Philadelphia, Jordan managed just 41 yards, his lowest output of the 1999 season. He only needs 91 yards on Saturday to become the leading rusher in Maryland history, passing the mark of 3,317 yards by Charlie Wysocki (1978-81).
Jordan's 41 rushing yards were indicative of a lackluster performance in last season's opener against the Owls, at Franklin Field. Maryland clinched a low-scoring, 6-0 win when reserve cornerback Bryn Boggs batted down a potential game-winning pass as time expired. Brian Kopka (Hollywood, Fla.) booted field goals from 27 and 26 yards to account for all of the game's scoring as Maryland recorded the first of back-to-back shutouts.
Records
Maryland opens its 108th season of college football this week when the Terrapins host Temple. The Owls (1-0), meanwhile, opened their 2000 season last Saturday night with a 17-6 win at Navy.
Rankings
Maryland received seven votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll on Sunday, Sept. 3 to mark the second week in 2000 the Terps have appeared in the voting. Last week's votes were Maryland's first since Nov. 7, 1999.
Two Terp opponents are ranked in this week's national college football polls: Florida State (#2 AP, #2 ESPN/USA Today) and Clemson (#17, #19). Georgia Tech received votes in both polls. West Virginia moved into the voting in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
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 is just 91 yards shy of the Maryland career rushing mark.
-- After leading the country in rushing over last year's final six games, he is 1,376 yards from becoming the ACC's all-time rushing leader.
-- A season of just 100 yards better than last season will result in a top 10 finish among the NCAA's all-time rushing leaders.
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 10-23 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.
Vanderlinden is 3-0 against Temple and 2-0 against Bobby Wallace.
Temple Coach Bobby Wallace
Third-year Temple boss Bobby Wallace (Mississippi State `76) is 5-18 in his third Division I-A season, and 87-54-1 overall in his 13th season overall. Named the "Division II Coach of the Quarter Century" by the NCAA in 1997, Wallace took over at Temple in 1998 after 10 seasons at North Alabama and three Division II national championships. He won national coach of the year honors in 1993, 1994 and 1995 from his post at North Alabama where he became the winningest coach in NCAA Division II playoff history (13-3). His teams were 41-1 during a three-year stretch where he won consecutive championships.
Next Games
Maryland travels to West Virginia for a noon kickoff next Saturday on ESPN2. The Terps return to Byrd Stadium for back-to-back home games with Middle Tennessee State (Sept. 23, 6 p.m.) and Florida State (Sept. 28, 8 p.m.). The FSU game marks the Terps' Atlantic Coast Conference opener in a Thursday night game televised live on ESPN.
Temple hosts the first of three straight home games at Franklin Field when the Owls battle Bowling Green.
Gameday at Byrd / Promotions
It is Fireworks and Band Night on Saturday when the Terps host Temple. Postgame fireworks highlight the evening which will be attended by area high school bands which will perform before the game and during halftime.
Maryland welcomes a national television audience when defending national champion Florida State invades Byrd Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 28.
Homecoming is slated for the Wake Forest game on Oct. 21. It also is the Terps' annual Letterwinners' Day as past athletes from all sports are welcomed into the stadium and onto the field.
Against NC State on Nov. 4, the University of Maryland campus community hosts Family Weekend with the Terps' football game scheduled as its centerpiece.
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 152-97-1 (.610) 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.
