Football 9/1/2003 8:00:00 AM Maryland Athletics

Football Game Notes -- Terps at Florida State

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Sept. 1, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

The University of Maryland football team looks to get back on the winning track as it kicks off its Atlantic Coast Conference season this Saturday night at Florida State University. Kickoff from Tallahassee's Doak Campbell Stadium is set for 7:22 p.m. EST and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 while being broadcast by the Terrapin Radio Network (radio pregame starts at 7:00 p.m.).

The Terrapins' season got off to a rough start last week as they fell short in a 20-13 overtime heartbreaker at Northern Illinois. This week will mark the second consecutive road game against a team picked to win its conference as NIU was the preseason media pick to win the Mid-American Conference, just as the Seminoles were selected by ACC media as the favorite to repeat in 2003.

The Terrapins fell out of the national rankings this week after opening the season ranked No. 15 in the preseason Associated Press poll and 14th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. The Terps are receiving votes in both polls. Florida State is ranked 11th in this week's AP poll and 10th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll.

Last season, Maryland did not play its first conference road game until an October 26th game at Duke. In starting its ACC schedule this week at FSU, the team is playing its earliest conference game since 1994 (Sept. 3, also at Duke). The Terps have won their last two road ACC openers.

Florida State opened its 2003 campaign with an impressive 37-0 win at North Carolina last weekend, the first shutout handed to the Tar Heels in a home opener in 37 years.

This week's game is the second of a pair of road games to start the season for the Terrapins. It marks just the sixth time in the modern era (since 1950) that Maryland has played its first two games on the road, with the last time being 1982, a span of 21 years.

Series Notes

Saturday's contest marks the 14th meeting between the Terrapins and Seminoles. The two teams first played in 1966 with a regular series beginning with FSU's joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992. Florida State has won all 13 games to date.

Florida State has been in control of the series, with the Terps coming no closer than 14 points. That effort came in 1998 when the Terrapin defense held the Noles in check -- allowing just one touchdown -- but Sebastian Janikowski booted a school-record tying five field goals in a 24-10 win.

In the last two meetings, Maryland's problems with the Seminoles have largely been a result of their own miscues. In those two games, the Terps have turned the ball over 10 times (six interceptions, four fumbles), mistakes that have resulted in 42 Seminole points off of Maryland turnovers (21 in each game).

Last season, two fumbles and an interception by the Terrapins in the second quarter helped FSU to a 24-point frame, essentially sealing the game's fate by halftime despite the fact that the 'Noles were held to only a touchdown and two field goals in the other three quarters combined.

In their last trip to Tallahassee (2001), the Terps had their best offensive effort in the series, scoring 31 points and ending the third quarter with the score tied at 31. The 31 points were 10 more than Maryland had scored in any other outing against FSU and was more than in each of the school's previous three efforts combined (27).

Though it lost the battle to the Seminoles in Tallahassee in 2001, the Terrapins won the war as they became the first team to win the ACC title outright since FSU joined the league in '92. From 1992-2000, Florida State had either owned a share of or won the conference title outright.

Should the Terps come away with its first win in the series, it would mark just the sixth time that FSU has lost to an ACC team since joining the conference. Three of those losses, however, have come in the last two years.

Terps Among Nation's Elite

Over the course of the past two years, the Maryland football program has been among the best in the nation. The Terrapins are 21-6 in that span with a 13-1 record at home and 7-3 mark on the road.

Maryland is one of just five Division I-A programs to have won at least 10 games in 2001 and 2002. The four others are Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma, Texas and Marshall.

The Terrapins are joined by just three other schools since 2001 to finish each of those two seasons ranked in the nation's top 15 in both major polls while also residing in the top 15 of both preseason polls for 2003 (Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma and Texas are the others).

Trimming the field even further, the Terps are joined only by Miami (Fla.) and Texas as the only three teams in the nation to finish in the NCAA's top 25 in both scoring offense and scoring defense in '01 and '02. Maryland ranked 21st in scoring offense (32.2 ppg) and seventh in scoring defense (16.3 ppg) a year ago while ranking 12th (35.4) and 18th (19.1), respectively, in 2001.

Friedgen's ACCeptional Start

Ralph Friedgen has opened his career as a head coach by setting one coaching record after another and as his third season in College Park gets under way, he is in position to place his name in the record books once again.

Last year, Friedgen became the winningest second-year head coach in ACC history with his 21-5 record, surpassing Clemson's Ken Hatfield by two wins. After just one game in 2003, Friedgen ranks tied for eighth with former Terp mentor Jerry Claiborne and will move into a tie with Clemson's Tommy Bowden with his next victory.

Friedgen will become the conference's winningest third-year coach with six wins this season. Lou Holtz (26-8-2, NC State, 1972-74) and Danny Ford (26-9-0, Clemson, 1979-81) are currently atop that list.

No other coach in Maryland history had won more than 17 wins in his first two seasons. Bobby Ross' 25 wins from 1982-84 is the school record for wins in three seasons.

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 third season as a head coach, Taaffe (Montreal Alouettes and The Citadel) and Blackney (Bowling Green) each bring significant head coaching experience to the table.

Taaffe and Blackney were able to maintain success virtually everywhere they went 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 (55-47-1).

Blackney was able to achieve success in his own right as a head coach at Bowling Green. In 10 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 third seasons at Maryland, the three coaches comprise one of the most experienced triumvirates in college football. With their 88 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 187 years of full-time experience at either the collegiate or pro levels.

That total includes four coaches (excluding Friedgen, Taaffe and Blackney) who have been at it for 17 years or more, and the 187 years means an average of almost 19 years of experience per coach on the 2003 staff.

Coaching Connections

Ralph Friedgen is not the only member of the Terrapin coaching staff with previous 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).

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.

Friedgen was actually Sollazzo's position coach at The Citadel.

Penalties Costly in Opener

The Terps committed nine penalties for 90 yards in their season-opening loss at Northern Illinois. More significant than the number of penalties or the yardage walked off, however, was when the penalties occurred.

Of the nine penalties, four came in the crucial fourth quarter (totaling 40 yards). Among the penalties was a personal foul that virtually wiped out a 12-yard Kevin Eli sack that would have put NIU back at its seven-yard line on its drive that ultimately resulted in the game-tying field goal; an offsides call that turned a 3rd-and-10 on that drive into a manageable 3rd-and-5; and a roughing the passer after an incomplete 2nd-and-10 attempt by Josh Haldi that moved the Huskies to the Maryland 40 and in position to move toward their game-winning field goal attempt (which was ultimately blocked by Curtis Williams).

McBrien Looking Good

Senior signal caller Scott McBrien has come a long way in three years. In 2001, he ran the scout team offense after transferring from West Virginia. Last year, he fought for and won a starting job only to struggle early in the season. By season's end, however, the Rockville, Md., native had the Terp offense rolling and indications from his coaches are he will finish his collegiate career playing the best ball of his career.

Last year, the Terps seemingly got rolling as McBrien did. Over the course of the season's last 11 games, McBrien completed 130 of 220 passes for 2,114 yards with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions.

McBrien's quarterback rating for last season was 141.3, 12th-best in Division I-A and second in the ACC.

For his efforts -- in his first full season as a starter -- McBrien was named an honorable mention All-ACC selection.

In the '02 finale, McBrien was named the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl's Offensive Player of the Game as he went 11-of-19 for 120 yards while rushing for a pair of touchdowns in the 30-3 Terp win.

In the season opener at NIU, McBrien -- like the rest of the Terp offense -- had a hard time getting started as he finished 12-of-24 for 110 yards with one interception. Several dropped passes contributed to the rough outing as at least three balls which could have resulted in big plays for McBrien and the Terrapins ended up as incompletions. His lone interception came on the game's controversial final play.

Depth And Experience

This year's Maryland squad is easily the deepest and most experienced of any during Ralph Friedgen's two-plus year tenure in College Park.

The 2003 edition of the Terrapins features 22 seniors, a stark contrast to the '02 Terps, a team with just 10 seniors. Of the 10 seniors on last year's roster, just six were starters at season's end.

A look at the most recent depth chart shows that 14 seniors are listed atop the chart at their respective positions.

The Bottom Line

Though the Terrapins' yardage numbers on offense and defense continued to improve each week as last season went along, none of their averages or national rankings qualified as eye-popping. Where the team did impress, however, was where it matters most -- in scoring.

On offense, Maryland averaged a robust 32.2 points per game, a total that ranked second in the ACC and 21st nationally.

The Terps posted 451 points in '02, marking the first time in school history that a team hit the 400-point mark in one season. In two-plus years under the tutelage of Ralph Friedgen and offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe, Maryland has tallied 854 points for an average of 31.6 points per outing (the 2001 team owned the previous single-season scoring record with 390 points).

On defense, the Terrapins allowed just 16.3 points per game last season. That figure led the conference and was seventh-best nationally.

Like the success the team has had on the other side of the ball, the defensive Terrapins have also flourished under their coordinator, Gary Blackney. In back-to-back seasons Maryland allowed less than 20 points per outing and in the two-plus years combined, opponents have averaged just 16.9 points per game.

Defense Returns Nine

The Terrapin defense -- as mentioned previously -- was outstanding last year, finishing seventh nationally in points allowed. The good news in 2003 is the unit that returns has barely changed, losing just two starters from a year ago.

Maryland was very stingy when it came to the scoreboard last year. The Terps held opponents scoreless in 30 quarters in '02, second-most of any team in Division I-A football (Kansas State led the nation with 34).

In their 11 wins last year, the Terps allowed just 14 touchdowns and an average of 11 points per game.

Maryland finished the 2002 season ranked second in the ACC in sacks (32).

Nowhere To Run

In 2002, all but two Maryland opponents were held at or below their rushing average heading into play against the Terps and on average, Maryland held its foes to more than 57 yards below their season averages. One game into '03, that trend is continuing.

The Terrapins held Northern Illinois to 59 yards rushing, 141 yards below their average of the season before. In addition, the defense held Michael Turner -- the nation's leading returning ball carrier -- 69 yards below his average and held him to 51 yards and a 2.1 average in the game's first three quarters.

In the last two seasons, Maryland has held its opposition below 100 yards rushing five times.

The Four Corners

Once a liability at Maryland, the defensive backfield is one of the strengths of this year's team. The fact that the Terrapin secondary is ranked as the 10th-best such unit in the country by The Sporting News speaks volumes and it is largely due to the skills of the four starters in that unit.

Described by Ralph Friedgen as four players with "great character," corners Curome Cox, Domonique Foxworth along with safeties Dennard Wilson and Madieu Williams also bring extraordinary skill to the table. All four players started a year ago and all four have spent at least some portion of their collegiate career at cornerback, giving the team one of the most versatile secondaries in the country.

Between them, Maryland's starting cornerbacks bring 54 career starts, 14 interceptions and 37 pass breakups.

Foxworth earned first team All-ACC honors as just a sophomore last year, while Cox returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including one that turned the tide in the Peach Bowl.

In game one of 2003, Foxworth came up with his sixth career interception, thwarting a fourth-quarter NIU drive.

At safety, Wilson and Williams each started their career at cornerback, bringing skills to safety most teams don't possess. Wilson had his finest year as a Terp last year, his first at strong safety. Williams is on several preseason All-America lists as well as the "watch lists" for the Jim Thorpe and Bronko Nagurski awards, awards which recognize the best defensive back and defensive player, respectively, in college football.

Size-Wise

One matchup that could benefit the Terps this year is that of the team's wide receivers against the opposition's defensive backs, as Maryland possesses the best size in years at wide receiver.

Maryland's starters in week two average 6-2, 217 pounds.

Of the 11 wide receivers on the Maryland roster most likely to see significant playing time in 2003, seven are 6-2 or taller. Three are 6-4 and only one player who isn't a slot receiver (Derrick Fenner, 5-11) is under 6-0 tall.

This week's opponent, Florida State, has starting cornerbacks averaging just over 5-11 and 185 pounds.

What's In A Name?

It may be a bit premature, but just based on the fact that junior Randy Starks has been compared by some media to Terp legend Randy White speaks volumes about how far the third-year defensive tackle's game has come.

Starks, a viable preseason candidate for the Outland and Lombardi trophies (awards White won in 1974), enters his junior year as a force in the middle along with senior C.J. Feldheim. Starks finished his true sophomore season third on the team in tackles (93) and second on the team in TFLs (12.5) and sacks (6.5) en route to second team All-ACC honors.

Despite only garnering enough attention from the press to earn second-team status a year ago, Starks has already caught the eye of some media members. Most notably, ESPN.com picked the junior as its preseason ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Starks' tackle total was tops in the ACC among defensive tackles last year and third among defensive linemen, overall.

The Waldorf, Md., native came up with his 11th career sack to go along with five tackles in the season opener against NIU.

AutoMat-Nick

Placekicker Nick Novak came on midway through the 2001 season and now, just a junior, enters this season as one of the nation's premier kickers.

Starting with his game-tying kick at Georgia Tech in '01, Novak has made 37 of his last 42 field goal attempts, with three of the misses coming from further than 50 yards.

In the Terps' season opener, Novak was outstanding. He converted both of his field goal attempts, easily hitting from 46 and 50 yards. He made his only PAT of the night and forced touchbacks on two of his four kickoffs. NIU's average starting spot after his four kicks was their own 17-yard line.

With 1.71 field goals per game, Novak finished last year ranked atop the ACC and fifth nationally. He led the league's kickers in scoring (8.9 ppg) and in field goal percentage (85.7).

Against NC State in 2002, Novak broke his own record for PATs in a season with his 43rd (he now has 53).

In last season's Virginia game, he broke the school record of 17 field goals set by three players (most recently Dan Plocki in 1988). Novak finished the season having converted 24 field goals.

Novak -- who enters this season on the "watch list" for the Lou Groza Award -- has hit the only two game-winning attempts of career, beating Georgia Tech in 2001 and NC State in 2002.

The Charlottesville, Va., native has made 6 of 9 for his career from 50 yards or further.

Adam's Eve

Attempting to fill the shoes of your school's all-time leading punter is a daunting task. Doing so in front of the first sellout crowd in the history of your opponent's stadium and on national television adds even more pressure. But despite all of that, redshirt freshman Adam Podlesh had quite a night in his debut as a collegiate punter.

On eight punts against Northern Illinois, Podlesh averaged 45.4 yards per kick, leaving four punts inside the 20 and one inside the 10. He also had a booming 63-yard effort, the longest by a Terrapin in over two years.

The average starting spot for NIU on the drives that followed Podlesh's eight punts was the 19-yard line. (Start spots in succession: 20, 9, 17, 10, 19, 20, 25, 31).

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 six years, the Maryland-D.C.-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 Virginia, with six of those serving as opening-game starters. Since that time, however, numbers in both categories have risen steadily.
Below is a look at the trend:

	Md./D.C./Va.    	'97	'98	'99	'00	'01	'02	'03
	Players on Roster	23	34	39	46	49	54	56
	Starters*       	6	5	7	12	10	14	10
	*reflects number of starters in the season opener.

Tough Losses

All five of Maryland's losses in the last two years have come against the stiffest of competition.

FSU was ranked 19th in 2001 and fifth in 2002 when the Terps played. Florida was the fifth-ranked team in the nation when it faced Maryland in the Orange Bowl. Notre Dame -- although unranked at the start of the season -- finished 2002 ranked 17th, while Virginia finished 22nd. This year's loss came to NIU, a team picked to win the Mid-American Conference.

Iron Terps

For the third-straight 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 vertical jump, improving on the previous all-time team highs that had been established since such records have been kept (started in 1983).

Not only were new records set, but the team as a whole improved dramatically, as 84 percent of the players on this year's team elevated their personal bests in strength index -- which encompasses all of the tests into one number -- from the year previous.

The player who set the most records at his position this year was the versatile Steve Suter. The standout wide receiver and return man posted records for strength index (768), squat (580 pounds), power clean (352 pounds) and vertical jump (42 inches).

Local Ties

Though it has no players from Tallahassee, Maryland has several players who will be making a homecoming of sorts this week when the Terps hit the Sunshine State.

Among the Terrapins from Florida are TB Josh Allen (native of Tampa who finished high school in Maryland), OG Garrick Clig (Port Orange/Spruce Creek HS), J.P. Humber (Lakeland/George Jenkins HS), D'Qwell Jackson (Largo/Seminole HS), Jermaine Lemmons (Tampa/Thomas Jefferson HS) and Donnie Woods (Dade City/Thomas Jefferson HS).

Florida State has one player with ties to the Old Line State as DT Darnell Dockett is from nearby Burtonsville (Paint Branch HS).

ACC Football on the Rise

Long considered a basketball league, the Atlantic Coast Conference is in the midst of somewhat of shift in the balance of power.

Last season, four ACC schools finished the season in the Associated Press' Top 25. In this year's preseason Top 25, four ACC schools were ranked in the nation's top 18 in the Associated Press poll and four of the top 17 in the coaches' poll.

With the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech -- schools who will be a part of the conference next year -- the ACC total in this year's preseason polls rises to six of the top 18 teams in the country, a claim no other conference can boast.

Scouting The 'Noles

Florida State is 1-0 overall and in the Atlantic Coast Conference after beating North Carolina, 37-0, in Chapel Hill last weekend. The Seminoles are coming off a 9-5 season in 2002 and a conference championship with a 7-1 ACC mark.

After averaging 398.1 yards and 30.6 points per game a year ago, the Noles opened this year by bettering those marks in week one. Against UNC, the FSU offense racked up 553 yards of total offense using a balanced attack which posted 236 yards on the ground and 317 through the air.

QB Chris Rix and TB Greg Jones are the returning offensive stars for the Seminoles, but redshirt freshman Lorenzo Booker looks like a player to watch if the first game is any indicator. The former All-American prep tailback darted his way to 87 yards on 11 carries against the Tar Heels while catching four passes for 45 yards.

FSU's defense had not pitched a shutout in over two years, but that is exactly how it opened its 2003 campaign against UNC. The Seminoles held the Tar Heels to 295 yards of total offense while limiting UNC to 72 yards on the ground.

Linebacker Kendyll Pope, the team's leading tackler a year ago, is back for his senior year as is second-leading tackler Michael Boulware ( brother of Ravens' defensive end, Peter). Between the two, FSU gets back players who accounted for 258 tackles, 16 TFLs and 12 pass breakups from a year ago.

FSU's Bobby Bowden

Bobby Bowden is in his 28th year at Florida State, a program he has molded into a perennial powerhouse in college football. In his time in Tallahassee, he has posted a 260-65-4 record while his career record stands at 332-96-4.

Bowden has the second most wins of any active coach (behind only Joe Paterno). His 18 bowl victories are also second only to Paterno, with both coaches trailed by legendary names such as Paul "Bear" Bryant, Tom Osborne and Lou Holtz, to name a few.

Bowden is the only coach in college football history to post 14-straight 10-win seasons which he accomplished from 1987-2000.

With a career winning percentage of .773, Bowden ranks third on the all-time list.

Under Bowden, the Seminoles have had nearly unprecedented success in bowl games, going 18-5-1 in his tenure. Bowden's 18-7-1 career record in bowl games gives him the best win percentage of any coach in NCAA history, besting the .692 of another Bobby, legendary Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd.

Byrd Stadium

Now in its 54th year of operation, Byrd Stadium continues to serve as the home of the Terps. Opened on September 30, 1950, and constructed for a sum of $1 million, Byrd was named after Dr. H.C. "Curley" Byrd, a multi-sport star at Maryland who later became the school's head football coach and ultimately its president.

Heading into the season, the Terrapins are 174-101-1 within the friendly confines of Byrd.

With temporary bleachers installed for the remainder of this season, Byrd Stadium can hold up to 51,500.

In two seasons under Ralph Friedgen, the Terrapins are 13-1 in games played at Byrd Stadium.

Terp Alley

In an effort to restore some tradition on gameday in College Park, the football staff created Terp Alley in 2001, a tradition that has become a part of the gameday experience outside Byrd Stadium.

For every football home game, the entire football team makes its first appearance of the day at "Terp Alley." The team is dropped off at the circle at the top of Field House Drive (between the football press box and Ludwig Field) approximately two hours before kickoff and is led past fans gathered along the street to the football complex by the Maryland band and cheerleaders.

A Class Act

The success of the Maryland football team has not stopped on the playing field in recent years, as the team has improved its academic standing under Ralph Friedgen's watch.

Five players on this year's team -- OG Ed Tyler, OG Lamar Bryant, CB Curome Cox, TE Jeff Dugan and DT Tosin Abari -- have already earned their degrees.

Tyler earned his degree in economics prior to last season, finishing his course work in just three years. He is currently pursuing a second degree (history).

From the membership has its benefits file: Friedgen lets players line up to eat by grade point average. The Terps must be hungry -- 24 players earned a 3.5 grade point average or better in the spring of 2003.

Building For The Future

When the Terrapins take the field at Byrd Stadium this year, changes will still be taking place at the site 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.

After getting a state-of-the-art scoreboard and a new academics unit a year ago, the renovation has now moved on to improving other areas. Included in the changes are a remodeled weight room and a dining hall, a hall of fame area and a team meeting auditorium.

In addition to the bright visible new video board, it may go overlooked by some that expansion has already 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.

One other change noticeable at the start of fall camp and appreciated by players and coaches alike was the Terps' new practice facility, which features two state-of-the-art grass fields and a field turf, perfect for weeks when Maryland plays on an artificial surface.

A 25-Year Holliday

"Voice of the Terrapins" Johnny Holliday is celebrating his silver anniversary with the Terps this year, as the hall-of-fame broadcaster is celebrating his 25th season as the key cog in the Maryland broadcast team.

With a long list of credentials that includes covering the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics in '84, '88 and '94, and the Masters, the Terps' director of broadcasting may be best known to some fans from his days as a disc jockey in Cleveland, work which ultimately landed him in that town's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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.

Season Ticket Sales Climbing

In the last two years, season ticket sales for Maryland football games have been moving higher and higher.

Nearly a week before the season opener and over three weeks from the home opener, the athletics department has sold a school-record total of more than 27,000 season tickets.

As of August 22, the total sold was 27,134, an improvement of almost 10,000 tickets from Ralph Friedgen's first season in College Park and more than 12,000 more sold than in 1999.

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