Football Game Notes -- Terps vs. Clemson

Sept. 29, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

Game Notes - Terps vs. Tigers (PDF Format)
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The University of Maryland football team returns home in search of its fourth-straight win and first on the conference slate as it plays host to the Clemson University Tigers in a regionally televised contest. Kickoff from Byrd Stadium is slated for 3:37 p.m. EDT with the game being televised by ABC and broadcast locally by the Terrapin Radio Network (radio pregame starts at 3:00 p.m.).

The Terrapins (3-2, 0-1 ACC) overcame a sluggish start in Ypsilanti, Mich., and ultimately left Eastern Michigan with a 37-13 win. Maryland led by as little as three points early in the third quarter but eventually rode the hot hand of QB Scott McBrien, stringing together three-straight drives which resulted in a touchdown and pulling away from the Eagles down the stretch.

Clemson enters this week's contest on a bit of a roll, having won its last three with each win being successively more impressive than the one previous. The Tigers (3-1, 1-0 ACC) had a bye last week and handed Georgia Tech a 39-3 loss in Atlanta the week before.

After dropping out of the rankings following their season opener, the Terrapins moved another step closer to a return to the Top 25 as they earned votes in both polls this week. Maryland received eight votes in the most recent Associated Press poll and 19 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. Clemson, also unranked, received no votes in the AP poll but picked up 11 in the coaches' poll.

Series Notes -- Terps & Tigers

Saturday's game marks the 52nd meeting between the Terrapins and Tigers. Clemson leads the all-time series -- which began in 1952 -- 27-22-2.

Last season, Maryland went to Clemson and came away with a 30-12 win. In the victory, Chris Downs ran for 101 yards while Scott McBrien mixed three interceptions with three touchdowns passing and one rushing while also churning out 67 yards on the ground. Bruce Perry had one of his best games after returning from a shoulder injury two games previous, going for 69 yards of his own on 17 carries. Meanwhile, the Terp defense held the Tigers to just 211 total yards and no touchdowns (Aaron Hunt accounted for all of the Clemson scoring with three field goals).

With their win a year ago, the Terps accomplished several notables in regards to the series. The win was Maryland's first in Death Valley for the first time since 1985 -- a 16-year drought -- and it now carries a two-game win streak in the series for the first time since 1984-85.

In scoring 67 points combined in their last two games against Clemson, Maryland has scored more points than it was able to muster in all of its games against the Tigers in the eight previous meetings combined. The Terps scored just 56 points between 1993 and 2000, with the majority coming in a 42-30 home loss in 1999.

Though Maryland has turned it around somewhat of late, Clemson has more or less been in control of the series since 1982. The Tigers have won 15 of the 21 games between the two schools since '82 (Maryland has won five and the two teams tied in 1986). Prior to 1981, Maryland had a stronghold as the more dominant team as the Terrapins held a 17-11-1 record from 1952-80.

In the 2001 meeting between the two schools, the Terrapins snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Tigers and, in the process, gained a share of their first ACC title since 1985. In the 37-20 win, Maryland intercepted four passes -- a career-worst three thrown by Woodrow Dantzler -- and coasted after going up 34-6 with under 11 minutes left in the fourth.

Righting The Ship

After a slow start to the 2003 season, both on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet, Maryland has been able to steer clear of its slow start. In the last three weeks, the Terrapin offense, defense and special teams have all gotten renewed life, posting numbers that have made up for the anemic start of the first two games and put the team right back where it has been the last few years from a statistical standpoint.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Terrapins have returned to the effective balanced attack that has served them so well under coordinator Charlie Taaffe the last two-plus years. In the last three games, Maryland has rushed for 731 yards and passed for 789, along the way posting 109 more points (132 total) than it was able to in its first two games.

The Terp defense has gotten in on the act as well, limiting the opposition to an average of 6.7 points in the last three games. As it stands, the defense has held two of three opponents under 200 yards of offense, all three below 300 and has allowed 20 completed passes in the last three games combined.

The big numbers in the last three games have helped get the team right back where it has been the last few years, statistically speaking. Below is a comparison showing just what the performances have done for the team from a statistical standpoint:

	Category	'03 2-game Avg.	'03 5-game Avg.	2002 Avg.
	Rush Offense	92.5	185.2	198.8
	Pass Offense	117.0	204.6	190.6
	Total Offense	209.5	389.8	389.4
	Scoring Offense	11.5	31.0	32.2
	Rush Defense	127.5	122.8	128.6
	Pass Defense	248.5	141.2	210.1
	Total Defense	376.0	264.0	338.8
	Scoring Defense	27.5	15.0	16.3

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 moves along, he is once again positioning himself to move up 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 five games in 2003, Friedgen has moved into a tie for fifth on the list of third-year ACC coaches as he now has 24 wins. He is currently tied with Hatfield and UNC's Dick Crum.

With the Terps' next win, Friedgen will stand just one win shy of the all-time mark of third-year ACC mentors, tying the record of Clemson's Danny Ford and NC State's Lou Holtz and Chuck Amato.

Friedgen will become the conference's winningest third-year coach with three more 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. With his next win, Friedgen will tie Bobby Ross' 25 wins from 1982-84, the Maryland record for wins in three seasons.

Tenured at the Top

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 school -- 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. In addition, the head coach at the college at the time was former Terp mentor Bobby Ross (Bulldog head coach from 1973-77; Terps from '82-86).

Been There, Done That

Starting 1-2 is never ideal, especially for a team whose expectations were as high as Maryland's coming into 2003. But coupled that with the team's play the last three weeks and if last year can be used as any kind of indicator, maybe it isn't such a bad way to start a campaign.

Last year, the Terps opened 1-2 and then went on to win 10 of its last 11 games, running off eight in a row at one point before dominating Tennessee, 30-3, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Another ironic twist is the placement of the team's win over West Virginia. Only time will tell in 2003, but a year ago, the win over West Virginia seemed to give the Terps the confidence for their stretch run. At a minimum, this year's win legitimized the team's play a week before against The Citadel and gave it the confidence to shake a poor start against Eastern Michigan and ultimately move on to dominate in the second half.

McBrien Returning To Form

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 as of late, he is playing like the player who earned offensive MVP honors in last year's Peach Bowl.

This season, McBrien has a 120.34 efficiency rating, throwing for 821 yards on 58-of-106 passing. He has also thrown a pair of TDs to go along with three interceptions, but his numbers do not tell the entire story.

The 12th-rated passer in Division I-A last year, McBrien has posted his best efforts of 2003 of late. In the last three games, he has completed 40-of-60 passes for 650 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. In that time, his QB rating has been 165.3 and he has also rushed 13 times for 99 yards (7.6 ypc) and a TD.

Last weekend, McBrien had his best effort of the season throwing for a season-high 252 yards and a TD on 14-of-19 passing while completing 8-of-9 passes in the second half to rally the Terps.

Suter Sets All-Time Mark

After sitting out the first game of the season with a hamstring pull, fear was that junior Steve Suter would take some time before making an impact on the Terps this season. Four games later, those fears are non-existent.

Last week, Suter did not have a typical day in the returns department (13 punt return yards and 17 kick return yards), but he made up for it with big plays on offense. In his second game of the year as a starter, he posted a game- and career-high four receptions for 84 yards, including a 45-yarder before halftime that set up a Nick Novak field goal.

With 42 punt return yards against West Virginia, Suter became Maryland's all-time leader in punt return yardage with 922. With 13 yards last week, he now has 935.

A year after tying the NCAA record for punt returns for a touchdown in a season (4), Suter notched his first of 2003 by breaking tackles and then bursting free for a 75-yard jaunt against The Citadel.

Suter also owns the Maryland career record for punt returns for a touchdown with five.

Now in his second year as a regular at wide receiver and on special teams, Suter has brought an explosiveness unparalleled at Maryland the last few years. In that time, he has averaged 16.2 yards per touch whether it be rushing, receiving or in the returns game.

Action Jackson

Five games into his first season as a starter at middle linebacker, sophomore D'Qwell Jackson looks more like his predecessor E.J. Henderson than a first-time starter.

Jackson currently leads the team and is third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an average of 12.2 tackles per outing (61 total).

In addition to his tackle totals, Jackson has posted three TFLs, one sack, one interception (returned for a touchdown), five QB hurries, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.

Jackson has led the Terrapins in tackles in four of five games this year. He has also had four games with double-digit tackles (five career).

Against Eastern Michigan, Jackson posted a team-high 16 tackles (nine solo).

In his first return to his home state as a collegian, Jackson was easily the Terps' player of the game against Florida State. He finished with 11 tackles (five solo) and a forced fumble, but big plays were what helped him make his mark. On FSU's first offensive play, he stepped in front of Chris Rix's intended receiver, came up with the interception and rumbled 58 yards -- running through Rix along the way -- for what would be Maryland's only touchdown of the game. Later in the quarter, he broke through the line on special teams and blocked a Xavier Beitia field goal attempt to momentarily help the Terps maintain a 10-7 lead.

In his debut as Maryland's starter against Northern Illinois, Jackson led the team with 15 tackles (eight unassisted), a TFL and three QB hurries.

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 13 seniors are listed atop the chart at their respective positions.

Defense On Fire

After an uncharacteristically slow start in its first two games, the Terrapin defense has come on and looks like the same group that has been one of the top units in the country over the last few years.

Entering this week's game, the Terp defense is ranked ninth in the NCAA in total defense, allowing an average of just 264 yards per game. The team is also second in the ACC in total defense and scoring defense (15.0 ppg).

In its last three games, Maryland has held its opposition to just 20 points while yielding just 568 total yards combined in those contests. That's an average of 189.3 yards per game.

Against West Virginia, the Terps held an offense that entered averaging 366 yards a game to just 156.

The nation's seventh-ranked scoring defense in 2002, Maryland is starting to maintain its stinginess of a year ago. 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). Through five games this year, the Terps have held their opposition scoreless in 10 quarters.

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. Thus far in '03, that trend is continuing.

Maryland has held its opponents below 100 yards in two of four games this season and held all but one of its opponents below their respective averages coming into the game.

Through five games, Maryland's opponents are going for 65.8 yards below their rushing average in 2003. (Note: Northern Illinois' average is based on their mark set during the 2002 season).

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 Gary Blackney's two-plus years as the Terps' defensive coordinator, Maryland has held its opposition below 100 yards rushing six times.

The Four Corners

Once a liability at Maryland, the defensive backfield is one of the strengths of this year's team. Heading into this week's action, the Terps are ranked seventh nationally and first in the ACC in pass defense, giving up an average of just 141.2 yards per game through the air.

In the last three games, Maryland's opponents have completed a combined total of 20 passes and thrown for just 228 yards (an average of 6.7 completions and 76 yards per game).

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.

Last weekend, Foxworth came up with the group's first score of the year as he stepped in front of a EMU pass on third down and took it 44 yards for the game's first touchdown.

Between them, Maryland's starting defensive backs bring 101 career starts, 22 interceptions and 75 pass breakups.

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.

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 doesn't spend time as a slot receiver (Derrick Fenner, 5-11) is under 6-0 tall.

This week's opponent, Clemson, has starting cornerbacks averaging just over 5-11 and 193 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 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 caught the eye of some media members. Most notably, ESPN.com picked the junior as its preseason ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

The Waldorf, Md., native came up with his 12th career sack in last week's game against Eastern Michigan. He now stands just three sacks from the Maryland career Top 10.

Despite nearly constant double teams, Starks is currently third on the team with 28 total tackles. He is second on the team with five TFLs to go along with two sacks.

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 46 of his last 51 field goal attempts (90%), with four of the five misses coming from 50 yards or further.

Novak is 10-of-11 on field goal attempts this season. His lone miss came from 52 yards against West Virginia.

With seven points against Eastern Michigan, Novak now needs 29 points to move into second place on the Terps' all-time scoring list.

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.

A first team All-ACC selection a year ago who ranked fifth nationally in field goals, Novak is currently sixth in the NCAA and first in the ACC with an average of 2.0 field goals per game.

Novak -- who entered 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 60 percent (6-of-10) of his attempts for his career from 50 yards or further.

Off On The Right Foot

Attempting to fill the shoes of your school's all-time leading punter is a daunting task. Five games into his first season as Maryland's starting punter, however, redshirt freshman Adam Podlesh seems unphased.

Podlesh is now averaging 46.3 yards per punt, eighth-best in the NCAA and second-best in the ACC. He has also helped the Terps to the fifth-best net average in the nation at 43.4 yards per punt.

In front of the fourth-largest crowd in Florida State history, Podlesh averaged 43.7 yards per punt on seven kicks with a long of 52 and three downed inside the Seminole's 20-yard line.

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.

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

FSU was ranked 19th in 2001, fifth in 2002 and 10th this year when it defeated the Terps. 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 season-opening loss came to NIU, a team picked to win the Mid-American Conference and currently undefeated and ranked in the top 20 of both polls.

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

The Terps do not have any players who call the state of South Carolina home.

Terrapin offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe, however, played quarterback at Clemson in 1969. Defensive line coach Dave Sollazzo coached high school ball in South Carolina (Stratford HS, North Charleston HS and Fort Johnson HS) after graduating from The Citadel, and he is one of four Maryland coaches who spent time as a coach at the Charleston military school (Sollazzo, Friedgen, Taaffe, and Seamonson).

The Tigers do not have any players with ties to the state of Maryland.

Clemson QB coach Mike O'Cain was an offensive backfield coach at The Citadel for two years (1978 and '79) that Ralph Friedgen was an offensive coordinator at the school.

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 23-6 in that span with a 15-1 record at home and 7-4 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 accompanied 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.

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 Tigers

Clemson enters this weekend's contest with the Terps sporting a 3-1 record (1-0 ACC) and riding the wave of an impressive 39-3 win over Georgia Tech on September 20. The Tigers were idle last week.

The Tigers have gotten better with each game this season. They started the year getting thumped at home, 30-3, in their annual meeting with Georgia, but went on to beat Furman (28-17), Middle Tennessee (37-14) and Georgia Tech (39-3), increasing the margin of victory with each win.

This season, Clemson has gotten the majority of its offensive production through the air. The team is getting 265.3 of the 385.3 yards per game it is averaging from its passing game while completing 65.9 percent of its passes as a team.

Sophomore Charlie Whitehurst took over midway through last season for Clemson and has become the one of the team's offensive stars in his short time as the starter. Whitehurst is 88-of-130 for the season for 1,048 yards, nine touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Wideout Airese Currie has been Whitehurst's top target and one of the top receivers in the ACC thus far. In four games, he averages 84.8 yards per game and has caught a team-high 26 passes.

Clemson has been stout against the pass this season, allowing an average of just 178 yards per game. In addition, the opposition has been held to an average of 16 points per game, 26th-best nationally.

Linebacker Leroy Hill has been the undisputed leader of the Tiger defense thus far. He has posted team-highs in tackles (49), TFLs (10) and sacks (4).

Clemson's Tommy Bowden

Now in his fifth year at Clemson, Tommy Bowden has posted a 32-21 record since taking over at the South Carolina school. He has a career record of 50-25.

Bowden came to Clemson four years ago after leading Tulane to a 17-4 record in two seasons, including an undefeated season in 1998.

At the start of 2000, the second season seemed to be the charm for Bowden. His second season at Tulane resulted in a 11-0 mark and a berth in the Independence Bowl and he started 8-0 last year. The Tigers stumbled down the stretch, however, losing three of their last four including a 41-20 defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

The son of Florida State legend Bobby Bowden, Tommy began his coaching career in 1978 as a defensive backs coach under his father. Since that time, he has had stints as an assistant at Auburn ('80, '92-96), Florida State again ('81-83), Duke ('84-86), Alabama ('87-89) and Kentucky ('90) before taking over at Tulane in 1997.

Bowden is a graduate of West Virginia, where he walked on while his father still coached there in 1973. The younger Bowden graduated from WVU in 1976 under head coach Frank Signetti.

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 176-101-1 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 15-1 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.

A total of 23 of Maryland's 24 players who count as part of this year's senior class are on schedule to earn their degrees on time.

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.

Now less than a week from the Terps' home opener, the athletics department has sold a school-record total of more than 28,000 season tickets.

Prior to the start of the season, the total sold was 28,350, 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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