Football Game Notes -- Terps At West Virginia
9/30/2002 8:00:00 AM | Football
Terps vs. WVU Game Notes in PDF Format
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Sept. 30, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Game
- The University of Maryland football team hits the road and the heart of its schedule this week as it heads to Morgantown, W. Va., to take on regional rival West Virginia in a non-conference affair. Saturday's contest at Mountaineer Field kicks off at 12:04 p.m. and will be televised nationally by ESPN2 while also being broadcast on the Terrapin Radio Network (radio pre-game starts at 11:30 a.m.).
- The Terrapins won their second-straight game last weekend, handing Wofford its first defeat of the season in a 37-8 win at Byrd Stadium. In the win, the Terps posted their best rushing performance of the season, grinding out 250 yards with 147 coming from senior Chris Downs.
- The win pushed the Terps to 3-2 overall (0-1 ACC) while moving the team's record at Byrd Stadium to 10-1 over the course of the last two years.
- West Virginia awaits the Terrapins with a 3-1 record (0-0 Big East) and is coming off quite a rushing performance of its own. In its 37-17 win over East Carolina, WVU rushed 62 times for a Big East record 536 yards, including 260 by Avon Coburne.
- This weekend marks the first true road game of the season for Maryland. It opened the season in New Jersey, but the game was considered a neutral contest against Notre Dame.
Series Notes
- Saturday's game marks the 40th meeting between the Terrapins and Mountaineers. West Virginia leads the all-time series -- which began in 1919 -- by a 19-18-2 margin.
- Maryland and WVU have met every year since 1980. The Mountaineers have won seven of the last 12 meetings but the Terps having taken two of the last three.
- The series between the two Mid-Atlantic schools has been very evenly matched over the years. So much so, in fact, that if the Terps are able to pull out a victory in Morgantown this year, the series records for the two teams at home and on the road will be identical (as it stands, Maryland is 10-9-1 at Byrd and 8-10-1 at Morgantown).
- Last season's game -- originally scheduled for September 15 -- was not played on its originally scheduled date due to the 9/11 tragedy. The game was made up on September 29 (both schools had identical off weeks) with Maryland coming away with a 32-20 win and moving to 4-0 on the season.
- In last year's Maryland win, tailback Bruce Perry rushed for 153 yards on 31 carries to mark his fourth-straight 100-yard game to start the season. Perry went on to surpass the century mark a week later against Virginia to open his sophomore campaign with five-straight games over 100.
- Only once in the last seven meetings between the Terrapins and the Mountaineers has the game's winner not scored at least 30 points (WVU, 13-0 in 1996).
First Downs, TouchDowns
- Senior Chris Downs continues to improve after having taken over as the starter in week two. Against Wofford, Downs became the first Maryland back this season to rush for over 100 yards as he posted a career-high 147 on 22 carries (6.7 ypc).
- In hitting 147, Downs -- a player who had not carried the ball a single time prior to this season -- became the first Terp since QB Shaun Hill in last year's Duke game to hit the century mark in rushing (Hill went for 105 against the Blue Devils) while becoming the first Maryland back to rush for over 100 since Bruce Perry ran for 143 against Virginia (a span of 12 games).
- Despite not playing in the opener, Downs has posted a team-leading five touchdowns, finding the end zone at least once in each of the four games he has played.
- Downs has averaged no fewer than 4.2 yards per carry in any game he has played this year.
Henderson Breaks Record
- Senior All-American and 2001 Butkus Award finalist E.J. Henderson burst onto the national scene last season and -- despite an offseason of worries about his back -- he has not missed a beat in his final season in College Park.
- Five games into the season, Henderson has looked like the E.J. of old, a relief to the Terps considering he had back surgery on April 8 and missed all of spring practice. Henderson had 15 tackles (11 solo) against Wofford, the fourth time in five games this year he has been in double digits for tackles. He also had one sack.
- With his sack against Wofford, Henderson set the Maryland career record for tackles for loss with his 46th. That total broke the mark of 45 set by former teammate Aaron Thompson (1998-2001).
- With 28 TFLs last season, Henderson posted the best single season in modern Maryland history. His four tackles behind the line against Clemson broke the record of 24 set by the legendary Randy White in 1974, the first season the stat began being kept at Maryland.
- The 2001 ACC Player and Defensive Player of the Year, Henderson has led the Terrapins in tackles in each of the past two seasons and leads the Terps again in '02. In 2000, he led the way with 109 tackles despite missing a game-and-a-half due to injury before posting a spectacular ACC-leading 150 tackles last season. This year, Henderson tops the Terps' charts with 58 tackles.
- Henderson has led Maryland in tackling in all but three games the last two years (14 of 17 games).
- Five games into the season, Henderson has posted 356 career tackles. The 15 tackles last week pushed him into the Maryland career top 10 and he currently stands eighth (he now needs 27 to move into seventh).
- Henderson has averaged 13.2 tackles per game (263 total) in his last 20 games dating back to the 2000 season.
- In his two-plus years as the starter at Maryland, Henderson has notched double-digits in tackles 20 times. Dating back to his sophomore season, Henderson has finished with double-digit tackle performances in 17 of the last 20 games. On five occasions he had 17 tackles or more.
- Henderson's single-game high in tackles (20) came in the ACC-clinching win at NC State last year.
Three-For-One
- With the hiring of Ralph Friedgen and Friedgen's ensuing hires of offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe and defensive coordinator Gary Blackney prior to the 2001 season, the Terrapins got the equivalent of three head coaches atop one coaching staff. Though Friedgen is in just his second season as a head coach, Taaffe (Montreal Alouettes and The Citadel) and Blackney (Bowling Green) each bring head coaching experience to the table.
- Taaffe and Blackney were able to maintain success virtually everywhere they had been as head coaches. While in Montreal, Taaffe guided the Alouettes to a combined 25-14 record (two seasons) and an appearance in the 2000 Grey Cup. In 1999 and 2000, he was named the CFL's Coach of the Year, making him only the second coach to earn such an honor in back-to-back seasons (Marv Levy the first in 1974) and the first ever to do so in his first two campaigns. In addition, he is the winningest coach in The Citadel's history.
- Blackney was able to achieve in his own right as a head coach at Bowling Green. In 10 successful seasons, Blackney won 60 games (third most in school history), was the only coach in school history to win a bowl game (his Falcons won the 1991 California Raisin Bowl and the 1992 Las Vegas Bowl) and was the only coach to win more than 10 games in back-to-back seasons (11 in 1991; 10 in 1992).
- Now in their second seasons at Maryland, the trio comprises one of the most experienced triumvirates in college football. With their 85 years of combined, full-time experience at the college and/or pro levels, Friedgen, Taaffe and Blackney are the fifth-most experienced trio in Division I-A.
A Wealth of Experience
- The coaching experience does not end on the Terrapin coaching staff with Coach Friedgen and his coordinators. The Maryland staff overall possesses a combined total of 206 years of full-time experience at either the collegiate or pro levels.
- That total includes five coaches (excluding Friedgen, Taaffe and Blackney) who have been at it for 18 years or more, and the 206 years means an average of almost 21 years of experience per coach on this year's staff.
Perry Watch
- Less than 10 days before their opener against Notre Dame, the Terps learned that they would be without their top returning offensive player from a year ago, junior tailback and 2001 ACC Offensive Player of the Year Bruce Perry. Perry has missed the season's first five games and his status for the WVU game is undetermined as of September 30.
- On Tuesday, August 20, Perry suffered a third-degree tear of his left groin (adductor longus) muscle. The injury took place during warmups prior to a scrimmage as Perry's foot was stepped on by an offensive lineman and as he made an effort to pull his leg free, he felt a "pop."
- No surgery was necessary and the initial timetable for Perry's recovery was anticipated to be 4-8 weeks from the time of his injury. Should he return this week, he will have been out six weeks.
- Coach Friedgen on the possibility of Perry's return: "I think we are progressing with him. I thought last week he was doing pretty good, but then he had that setback. We just have to watch him this week. He does have some swelling, and he is tender around the point, and until that goes away he won't be 100 percent. I don't think I will play him until he is 100 percent. As soon as he is healthy, I want to play him."
- Perry entered this season as the lone returning finalist from last year's Doak Walker Award. He ran for 1,242 yards as a sophomore last year, his first as the Terps' starter. In addition, he finished ninth in the nation in all-purpose yards with an average of 156.2 yards per outing.
Transportation Throwbacks
- Though they will be playing their first "official" road game of the year this weekend at West Virginia, the Terrapins' travel schedule continues to look something like that of the Terps of the early 1900s.
- With this week's travel being by bus, Maryland can likely claim something not many major Division I-A schools can -- that it has yet to fly to a game this season. Fact is, the Terps will not fly for the first time until their October 26th game at Duke.
- Maryland has played at two sites away from Byrd Stadium this season, traveling by train to Newark, N.J., for the Kickoff Classic against Notre Dame and now by bus for this weekend's game against WVU.
Watch Out
- When last year began, the Terps' lone mention on any "watch lists" for national awards was punter Brooks Barnard. By season's end, the team had Barnard as a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award, E.J. Henderson as a finalist for the Butkus Award, Bruce Perry a finalist for the Doak Walker Award and Melvin Fowler a finalist for the Rimington Trophy.
- This season, those who vote did not take any chances as Barnard is again on the Guy list, Henderson is the only returnee among Butkus finalists, Perry is the lone returnee among Doak Walker finalists and offensive lineman Todd Wike is on the watch list for the Outland and Lombardi trophies. In addition, Henderson enters the season as one of the nation's favorites for the Nagurski Award and is on the Walter Camp Player of the Year "watch list."
Lean On Seniority
- Despite the fact that this year will be the last for several big names on the Terrapin roster, the team is one that will not need to do a significant amount of replacing next year.
- Though people will ask at season's end how the Terps will replace players like E.J. Henderson, Todd Wike and Brooks Barnard, a closer look shows that there will not be a lot of turnover between this season and next. Amazingly, this year's team features a total of only 11 seniors, with just seven figuring as starters on the latest depth chart.
- The lack of seniority will be particularly helpful on defense next year when only three players who see significant playing time -- Henderson, Durrand Roundtree and Ty Stewart -- will be lost to graduation.
Odds & Ends -- Wofford
- The Terps racked up 250 yards on the ground against Wofford, giving them 488 over their last two contests (Maryland posted 238 yards against Eastern Michigan the week before).
- True freshman Josh Allen rushed 14 times for 63 yards against Wofford and has gained 149 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns in the last two games. He now averages an impressive 6.2 yards per carry after his first two games at the collegiate level.
- The Terps' defense was strong in the first half, holding the Terriers to no points, 31 yards rushing and 41 yards passing. It marked the second consecutive game that Maryland's "D" has held its opponent scoreless in the first two quarters.
- Wofford's fourth quarter touchdown broke a string of seven consecutive quarters without allowing a touchdown by the Terrapin defense.
- The Maryland defense now has allowed just 16 points in its last 10 quarters of work.
- C.J. Feldheim had one of his finest games as a Terp against the Terriers. The junior posted five tackles (all solo), one sack and three tackles for loss from his nose tackle position.
McBrien Coming On
- Junior signal caller Scott McBrien has come on the last two games and appears to be headed in the right direction as he and the Terrapins head towards the bulk of their conference schedule.
- In about seven quarters of work the last two weeks, McBrien has completed 25-of-38 passes for 428 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
- Against Wofford, the junior also looked more comfortable running the option as he rushed six times for 32 yards (5.3 avg.).
- McBrien's quarterback rating for the past two games has been 195.1.
Defense Holding Court
- As Maryland's offense continues to improve, the Terrapin defense is working its way back into the form it displayed last year -- as one of the toughest in the country.
- Through five games, Gary Blackney's unit has allowed just 16.8 points per game, 24th-best nationally. That figure would be better had it not been put in tough situations early in the season. Heading into the Wofford game, 32 percent of the points scored against the Maryland defense were a result of turnovers on the offensive side.
- The Terps have been toughest to score on this year at the start of each half, yielding 16 and 13 points in the first and third quarters, respectively.
- In the last two games, Maryland has allowed just one touchdown.
Bootin' Barnard
- Senior All-ACC punter and Ray Guy Award hopeful Brooks Barnard thought his punting was not up to snuff in 2001. So bad, it was, that Barnard ranked seventh nationally and first in the ACC with a 44.6 yard punting average. For the sake of the 2002 season, Terp fans can only hope he was right.
- Barnard opened the 2002 season kicking off of a bad left ankle (his plant foot) after one of his teammates was pushed into him at practice two days before the Notre Dame game. He has since begun to return to form and now ranks first in the ACC with a 43.1-yard average.
- Last week, Barnard kicked twice for a 56.5-yard average with one kick sailing 60 yards and one landing inside the 20.
- Against Florida State, Barnard had his best outing of the season, averaging 47.5 yards on six punts with four kicks traveling over 50 yards and one going out of bounds inside the one-yard line.
- Of Barnard's 17 punts this year, three have been downed inside the 20 (three inside the 20 and one inside the 10) and six have been 50 yards or further.
- Barnard has finished each of the last two seasons ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Last year, he finished seventh with a 44.6-yard average while the year before, he finished fourth with a school-record 44.7-yard average.
- As impressive as any of Barnard's punting stats may be the numbers he has posted in the weight room. In offseason testing, he benched 400 pounds, cleaned 286 and was timed at 4.65 in the 40-yard dash.
Nick the Kick
- Nick Novak came on midway through last season to help shore up the Terrapins' kicking game and help Maryland -- with the aid of punter Brooks Barnard -- stake a claim to having one of the best kicking tandems in the country.
- Starting with his game-tying kick at Georgia Tech a year ago, Novak has made 19 of his last 23 field goal attempts with three of the misses coming from further than 50 yards and four of his successful attempts being longer than 50.
- Against Wofford, Novak was 3-of-4 on field goals - with his only miss coming on a 57-yard attempt (into the wind) in the fourth quarter - making him successful on eight of the last 10 field goals he has attempted. Novak hit from 50 yards against the Terriers and has now made four of eight for his career from 50 yards or further (and 3-for-4 this season).
- Novak set the school record for PATs in a season in 2001 with his 41st at NC State and fell just one field goal shy of tying that single-season record (17 - Dan Plocki ('88), Jess Atkinson ('84).
- The sophomore has made 46 straight PATs. His 25-yard field goal miss against Akron earlier this year broke a streak of 12 straight successful kicks under 50 yards.
Homeboys
- In his first signing day with the Terps (2001), Ralph Friedgen said that in addition to landing some of the top recruits nationally, one of his goals was to make sure that all of the best players in the state of Maryland stayed in state and became Terps.
- Over the course of the past five years, the Maryland-D.C.-Northern Virginia recruiting area has been tapped more successfully in each ensuing year. In 1997, just 23 players on the Maryland roster hailed from either Maryland, D.C. or Northern Virginia, with six of those serving as opening-game starters. Since that time, however, numbers in both categories have risen steadily.
Coaching Connections
- Ralph Friedgen is not the only member of the Terrapin coaching staff with ties to College Park, though this is his fourth stint at Maryland (player from 1965-68; graduate assistant from 1969-72; offensive coordinator/offensive line coach from 1982-86 and the present stint).
- Inside linebackers coach Rod Sharpless played linebacker at Maryland from 1972-74, was an outside linebackers coach from 1977-80 and a wide receivers coach for the Terps in '90 and '91. Defensive line coach Dave Sollazzo was a graduate assistant for the Terrapins in 1984 and defensive line coach in '86-87.
- Sollazzo is also one of several coaches with a connection to another institution - The Citadel. Sollazzo played for (1974-76) and helped coach (1989-98) the Bulldogs, while Friedgen coached there from 1973-79, Charlie Taaffe was a head coach there from 1987-96 and outside linebackers coach Al Seamonson served there from 1987-99.
Tough Losses
- Maryland's four losses in the last two years have come at the hands of the stiffest of competition.
- FSU was ranked 19th last year and fifth this year when the Terps took it on. Florida was the fifth-ranked team in the nation when it faced Maryland in the Orange Bowl in 2001 and Notre Dame -- although unranked at the start of the season -- is now undefeated and ranked ninth in both polls.
Iron Terps
- For the second consecutive season, Maryland boasted record strength numbers and again posted its highest number of student-athletes earning "Iron Terp" status. In preseason strength and conditioning testing this year, the Terrapins again set four team strength records.
- This year's Terps set team records for strength index, power clean, squat and bench press, improving on the previous all-time team highs that had been established since such records have been kept (started in 1983).
- Individually, six Terrapins set 11 records in disciplines at their respective positions, but the star in the weightroom was again DE Durrand Roundtree.
- Roundtree, a senior from Baltimore, did not break his records of a year ago, but still posted amazing numbers. Among them: an 826 strength index (700 is considered high), a 490-pound bench, a 720-pound squat and a 35-inch vertical jump.
Super Suter
- Five games into the season, one thing has become apparent in regard to Maryland's special teams -- sophomore Steve Suter brings excitement to the return game that the Terps haven't seen since the likes of standout Jermaine Lewis.
- Suter has handled both kickoff and punt returns this year and has given the Terps' special teams a spark. As of late, he has also shown that the "spark" will not be limited to returns.
- Against Wofford, Suter caught his second touchdown of the season, a 10-yarder from Scott McBrien. On the night, he finished with two receptions for 28 yards and a TD while averaging 13.6 yards per punt return.
- In the second quarter of the Eastern Michigan game, Suter scored on a 91-yard strike from McBrien. The effort was the second-longest passing touchdown in Maryland history (longest was Ed Bolton (92 yards) vs. South Carolina in 1949).
- Against Notre Dame, Suter tried to get Maryland started as he returned the first ball he touched 51 yards. Against Akron a week later, he returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown, giving the Terps a 21-7 lead at the start of the second quarter.
- Suter's punt return for a touchdown against Akron was the first by a Terrapin since Lewis went 66 yards versus NC State in 1995.
- Suter enters this week ranked 15th nationally in kickoff returns (27.1 ypr) and 38th in punt returns (12.3 ypr). Those totals rank first and fourth, respectively, in the ACC.
Newcomer Invasion
- The Terrapins have had a significant number of newcomers contribute already this season, including several freshmen who have played significant roles.
- Five games in, a total of 22 players have seen action for the first time as Terps (four juniors, two sophomores, nine redshirt freshmen and seven true freshmen).
- The seven true freshmen seeing action is two more than the Terps had play all of last year.
Local Ties
- No Terrapin players call the state of West Virginia home, but starting QB Scott McBrien and backup Hunter Cross both transferred from WVU prior to the 2001 season.
- West Virginia has seven players who call the state of Maryland home: WR Mike Page (Cumberland), LB Mo Howard (Baltimore), DB Brian King (Damascus), DT David Upchurch (Hyattsville), LS Jeff Brown (Ijamsville), DB Jerry White (Rockville) and FB Moe Fofana (Silver Spring). In addition, LB Leonard Merriman played at Washington, D.C.'s Archbishop Carroll HS.
- In addition to the two schools, there are Maryland ties on this week's ESPN2 crew. Play-by-play announcer Pam Ward is a 1984 graduate of Maryland while color analyst Chris Spielman played under Terp defensive coordinator Gary Blackney at Ohio State.
Grid & Hardwood Harmony
- Last year marked the first time in University of Maryland history that the school's football and basketball teams were both ranked in the nation's top six during the same week.
- The Terrapins, ranked at No. 6 heading into the Orange Bowl, were joined by the basketball Terps who -- at the same time -- had been ranked second nationally. In the end, the basketball Terrapins went on to claim the national title while its football bretheren were ACC champs.
Scouting The Mountaineers
- West Virginia will take the field this weekend with a 3-1 record (0-0 Big East), already having matched its win total from a year ago and riding one of its most impressive offensive performances in recent history.
- The Mountaineers earned their third win last week with a 37-17 win over East Carolina, and did so behind a record-breaking rushing day. The Mountaineers rushed 62 times as a team for a Big East record 536 yards, including 260 by Avon Coburne.
- Midway through the third quarter of the ECU game, Cobourne passed Amos Zereoue for the WVU career rushing record. Cobourne, who also broke the Big East career rushing record earlier in the quarter, enters this weekend's contest with 4,093 career yards.
- For the season, the Mountaineers now average 345.5 yards per game on the ground, tops in the NCAA. The team has nearly three times the TDs on the ground (14) as it has through the air (5).
- Starting quarterback Rasheed Marshall has yet to throw an interception this season.
- Defensively, Grant Wiley leads the team in both tackles (45) and tackles for loss (5.5).
- In their lone loss of the season (at Wisconsin), West Virginia got behind early and never got back into the game. The Badgers posted all 34 of their points in the first half at Camp Randall Stadium. It was the only game this season that WVU did not go over 500 yards of total offense.
WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez
- Rich Rodriguez is in his second year as the head coach at West Virginia. He owns a 6-9 record in his first stint as a head coach.
- Rodriguez is WVU's 31st head coach after coming to Morgantown after two successful two-year stints serving under Tommy Bowden. The first was as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tulane in 1997 and '98. In 1999 and 2000, he served under Bowden as offensive coordinator and associate head coach at Clemson.
- In their years together, Rodriguez and Bowden took little time to turn things around at Tulane and Clemson. At both schools, teams struggled somewhat in year one (a combined 13-10 record) only to have strong second years (21-3).
- The best year Rodriguez had as an assistant was at Tulane in 1998 when the Green Wave rode the strong play of quarterback Shaun King to a perfect 12-0 record and a berth in the Liberty Bowl.
- A native of Grant Town, W. Va., Rodriguez was a three-time letterwinner at defensive back for WVU from '82-84.
New-Look Terps ... Again
- The Terrapins of 2001 had a new head coach, a new look to their uniform and helmet and in the end, a whole new way of playing football compared to recent years. Though the hope is that the brand of football will remain the same under the coach who is back for year two, the Terrapins' uniforms are seeing a change -- again.
- This year, the Terps' helmets remain the same as a year ago but the uniforms are a new look designed for Maryland by Nike. The uniforms were created with the past in mind even though the look is modern; the stripes on the shoulders are reminiscent of Terp uniforms of the '50s and '60s.
Building For The Future
- When the Terrapins take the field at Byrd Stadium this year, there will be many changes to the stadium that has been home to the Terps since 1950. Some will be apparent as soon as one sets foot in the stadium and others would only be noticeable to the men who wear the Maryland colors on game day.
- The most glaring change at Byrd Stadium rests above Gossett Team House in the form of a brand new, state-of-the-art video scoreboard. The new board features a high-resolution screen that is 21-feet tall by 28-feet wide and is capable of displaying in excess of 281 trillion colors.
- In addition to the bright visible new video board, it may go overlooked by some that expansion has taken place on the building below it, the Gossett Football Team House. Thus far, the coaches' offices have been refurbished as have meeting rooms and the equipment room.
- Other phases that await completion will include the addition of a new academics support and career development unit; a new multi-purpose room that will feature a kitchen and dining facilities; a new team meeting auditorium; and an expanded entrance and lobby area.
The Graduates
- Maryland has four players who earned their bachelor's degree before they even set foot on the field this season.
- Linebacker E.J. Henderson and offensive linemen Todd Wike and Matt Crawford all earned their degrees and are working toward additional degrees. All three earned their degrees this past spring, with Henderson and Crawford receiving bachelor's in criminology and criminal justice while Wike earned his degree in philosophy.
- Finally, after applying to graduate next spring and not knowing he already had enough credits, offensive lineman Ed Tyler learned last week that he has earned his degree in economics -- after just three years at Maryland.
- From the membership has its benefits file: Ralph Friedgen lets players line up to eat by grade point average and after questioning Henderson for heading up to the front of the line last week, that line is now lead by Terrapin graduates. (Henderson had responded that he thought graduation was the pinnacle anyway so "shouldn't (he) be allowed to go first?").
Ticket Information
- Individual game tickets for Terp home games may be purchased locally at any Ticketmaster outlet or by visiting the Maryland ticket office at Comcast Center. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.
- For additional info or to order by phone, call (800) 462-TERP.
2001: A Look Back
- The 2001 season was an amazing one for the Maryland football team. It was a season that saw the Terps catch the eye of the ACC before drawing the attention of the nation. The following are some of the more notable accomplishments of the 2001 team and their efforts to return Maryland to national prominence.
- The '01 Terrapins gave the school its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1985. The team won 10 games, marking the first time since 1976 that a Terp squad had hit that mark.
- Maryland's' seven ACC wins were the most in school history. The seven wins matched the combined total of the previous four Maryland teams and bettered the mark of four other teams (1974, 1983, 1984, 1985) that won six ACC games.
- In securing sole possession of the league title, Maryland became the first team other than Florida State to win the ACC outright since the Seminoles joined the conference in 1992 (the Seminoles had either owned or shared the crown every year from 1992-2000).
- Last year's team was the first in school history to win seven games at home as the Terps went a perfect 7-0 at Byrd. Under Ralph Friedgen, Maryland is now 10-1 at home.
