Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 58. Maryland
I Like Turtles
I like turtles. Maryland narrowly misses out on the top half of the Big Ten, finishing 8th in the conference’s rankings on this list. Since making the move from the ACC in 2014, they’ve struggled to find their footing, but seem to finally be putting things together under coach Mike Locksley. A ways to go before they win their first national title since 1953 though.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
| 11 | Maryland | 2002 | 29.301 | 11-3 |
| 10 | Maryland | 2001 | 28.101 | 10-2 |
| 14 | Maryland | 2003 | 27.631 | 10-3 |
| 16 | Maryland | 1985 | 25.363 | 9-3 |
| 9 | Maryland | 1984 | 25.19 | 9-3 |
| 24 | Maryland | 1983 | 15.374 | 8-4 |
| 32 | Maryland | 2006 | 11.581 | 9-4 |
| 30 | Maryland | 2010 | 11.488 | 9-4 |
| 42 | Maryland | 2008 | 4.302 | 8-5 |
| 44 | Maryland | 2022 | 3.435 | 8-5 |
| 40 | Maryland | 1990 | 1.813 | 6-5-1 |
| 40 | Maryland | 1986 | -1.343 | 5-5-1 |
| 47 | Maryland | 1988 | -2.088 | 5-6 |
| 55 | Maryland | 2007 | -2.314 | 6-7 |
| 61 | Maryland | 2014 | -5.201 | 7-6 |
| 54 | Maryland | 2005 | -6.401 | 5-6 |
| 66 | Maryland | 2020 | -7.64 | 2-3 |
| 57 | Maryland | 1995 | -7.895 | 6-5 |
| 66 | Maryland | 2021 | -8.181 | 7-6 |
| 57 | Maryland | 2004 | -9.903 | 5-6 |
| 72 | Maryland | 2013 | -10.982 | 7-6 |
| 76 | Maryland | 2018 | -11.864 | 5-7 |
| 66 | Maryland | 2000 | -11.986 | 5-6 |
| 67 | Maryland | 1999 | -14.03 | 5-6 |
| 61 | Maryland | 1987 | -14.652 | 4-7 |
| 68 | Maryland | 1989 | -18.062 | 3-7-1 |
| 68 | Maryland | 1996 | -18.262 | 5-6 |
| 78 | Maryland | 2016 | -19.029 | 6-7 |
| 73 | Maryland | 1994 | -20.597 | 4-7 |
| 94 | Maryland | 2017 | -22.749 | 4-8 |
| 84 | Maryland | 1992 | -26.035 | 3-8 |
| 88 | Maryland | 2012 | -28.818 | 4-8 |
| 94 | Maryland | 2015 | -30.545 | 3-9 |
| 87 | Maryland | 1991 | -33.276 | 2-9 |
| 88 | Maryland | 1998 | -33.912 | 3-8 |
| 114 | Maryland | 2019 | -38.261 | 3-9 |
| 96 | Maryland | 1993 | -40.661 | 2-9 |
| 106 | Maryland | 2009 | -40.98 | 2-10 |
| 107 | Maryland | 2011 | -43.496 | 2-10 |
| 97 | Maryland | 1997 | -44.108 | 2-9 |
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 17751 (58th)219-247-3 record
4 conference titles
9-6-1 bowl record
3 consensus All-Americans
96 NFL players drafted
Clearly, the best time to be a Maryland fan was in the early 1980’s and early 2000’s, with the top 6 seasons all falling between 1983-85 and 2001-03. Maryland won ACC titles in all 3 seasons from 1983-85, and 2001 as well. Their 3 consensus All-Americans is surprisingly low for a Power 5 school, but nonetheless, they’ve produced great players such as QB Boomer Esiason, WR Stefon Diggs, TE Vernon Davis, QB Neil O’Donnell, DT Kris Jenkins, WR DJ Moore, CB JC Jackson, DE Yannick Ngaokue, and LB Shawne Merriman. Those All-Americans were just two players, OT JD Maarleveld (1985) and LB EJ Henderson (2001, 2002).
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1997 (2-9 overall, 1-7 ACC)
They had some pretty bad losses, but managed to avoid the bottom of the ACC by beating Duke, who went 0-8 in conference play. A win over 3-8 Temple gave them their other win, but by just 9 combined points in the two games. Some losses were brutal, like 7-50 to Florida State, 14-40 to North Carolina, 0-45 to Virginia, and 18-37 to Georgia Tech. There was talent though—future NFL All-Pro DT Kris Jenkins and future All-American RB Lamont Jordan were just freshman at the time. Both would help Maryland improve each year of their careers, but not by much, going 3-8, 5-6, 5-6 from 1998-2000. Jenkins was a 3x All-Pro and 4x Pro Bowler for the Panthers and Jets, while Jordan rushed for 1632 yards in 1999 and became Maryland’s all-time leading rusher with 4147 yards.
5. 1984 (9-3 overall, 6-0 ACC)
If you’re a football fan, you’ve probably heard of Frank Reich’s 32-point comeback in the playoffs for the Buffalo Bills against the Houston Oilers. But did you know he had a comeback equally as impressive in college? Late in the year, Maryland was down 31-0 at halftime against #6 Miami (FL), the defending national champion. By the end of it, Reich had completed the biggest comeback in college football history, winning 42-40, an achievement he would also hold in the NFL. Miami wasn’t in the ACC at the time, but Maryland still went 6-0 in ACC play to claim their second straight ACC title. After starting just 2-3, they won their last 7 games, with an impressive 4-game stretch of beating #6 Miami (FL), #20 Clemson, eventual #20 Virginia, and Tennessee in the Sun Bowl. Reich, who was actually benched at one point during the season, was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1985 NFL Draft despite throwing just 210 career passes for 10 TD and 7 INT. OT JD Maarleveld, who had recently beaten Hodgkin’s lymphoma, won the Bryan Piccolo Award for overcoming adversity.
4. 1985 (9-3 overall, 6-0 ACC)
Reich was gone, but the machine was expected to keep chugging. QB Stan Gelbaugh, who had taken Reich’s job at one point the previous season, returned as an NFL prospect himself, and the Terrapins were #7 with high expectations to start the year. It would all come crashing down fairly quickly though—an opening 18-20 loss to #19 Penn State and a 0-20 loss to #12 Michigan 3 weeks later killed any national title hopes the Terps had before the season. Still, the ACC title was in play. Maryland once again swept the competition, extending their ACC win streak to 13 games dating back to 1983 en route to their three-peat as ACC champion. It was barely a competition, too, as Maryland outscored their 6 conference opponents by an average of 32-14. The lone other loss was to Miami (FL), who got revenge for 1984. Maryland won their 2nd straight bowl game, and while they might not’ve finished as high as last season (#18 and #12, respectively), I have this as the better resume. OT JD Maarleveld, who I mentioned overcame cancer and won the Bryan Piccolo award in 1984, was a 1st Team All-American, completing an amazing feel good story.
3. 2003 (10-3 overall, 6-2 ACC)
Maryland was a problem in the early 2000’s. Maryland alum Ralph Friedgen had them humming, going 31-8 over that 3 year stretch, winning the ACC once and finishing 2nd twice. Talk about a rough way to start the year though. #15 Maryland lost 13-20 (OT) in an upset to Northern Illinois, who was spurred by a monster 13 catch performance from PJ Fleck. A week later their ACC title hopes were immediately dashed, losing 10-35 to Florida State. But Maryland kept their heads, and young players would step up like sophomore LB D’Qwell Jackson. Maryland won 10 of their last 11, beating West Virginia twice, the first time early in the year 34-7, and the second in the Gator Bowl, 41-7. Maryland fell one game short of tying for an ACC title, but still beat quality conference opponents like Philip Rivers’ NC State and #22 finisher Clemson. QB Scott Brien finished his career 21-6 as a starter, throwing for 2672 yards 19 TD 6 INT and rushing for an additional 6 TD. A talented duo of kicker Nick Novak and punter Adam Podlesh would go on to start in the NFL for 5+ years. There was plenty of NFL talent on this team, some hadn’t blossomed yet, some were All-ACC. DT Randy Starks, DL Shawne Merriman, TE Vernon Davis, and LB D’Qwell Jackson would combine for 9 Pro Bowls and 4 All-Pros in the NFL.
2. 2001 (10-2 overall, 7-1 ACC)
Maryland had made just 1 bowl in the last 15 years when Friedgen took over. The fans would’ve just been happy with 6 wins. Not Friedgen. After a 5-0 start, Maryland headed to #15 Georgia Tech for a primetime Thursday night game on ESPN. Up 20-17 in OT, UMD’s All-American LB EJ Henderson recovered a fumble for the win, making it clear this was a real ACC contender. A 31-52 loss to Florida State put a thorn in things, as now FSU was tied for 1st and held the tiebreaker over Maryland. But just two weeks later, Florida State would lose to NC State. An avenue for Maryland. At 8-1, if the Terps just beat Clemson and NC State, they’d be ACC champions. A 37-20 win over Clemson was check 1. Down 16-19 to NC State with about a minute left, was it over? Nope. QB Shaun Hill threw an 8 yard TD pass for the win, beating NC State 23-19 to claim their first ACC title in 16 years. #6 Maryland lost to #5 Florida in the Orange Bowl, but it was still a dream season.
Future NFL QB Shaun Hill was 2nd Team All-ACC, throwing for 2380 yards 13 TD 9 INT with 7 rushing TDs. 5 other players on offense made 1st/2nd Team All-ACC, with RB Bruce Perry winning ACC Offensive POTY with 1601 yards and 12 TD from scrimmage. LB EJ Henderson was one of the best players in the country, winning ACC Player of the Year, ACC Defensive POTY, and earning consensus All-American honors. He’d be even better a year later.
1. 2002 (11-3 overall, 6-2 ACC)
Coming off an ACC title, there was a hangover. A 0-22 loss to Notre Dame at Giants Stadium in New Jersey was…not how they wanted to kick things off. Moreover, they were blown out by Florida State to fall to 1-2. An impressive run through the heart of their schedule though, salvaged things. An 8 game win streak included 48-17 over postseason #25 West Virginia, 34-10 over eventual 7-6 Georgia Tech, 59-7 over North Carolina, and 24-21 over Philip Rivers and #14 NC State. A 13-48 loss to Virginia was brutal, but followed it up with wins of 32-14 over 7-6 Wake Forest and 30-3 over Tennessee in the Peach Bowl. Statistically Maryland was one of the best teams in the country, scoring 32.2 PPG while giving up just 16.3 PPG. LB EJ Henderson was even better than his 2001 version, cementing himself as one of the best linebackers in the BCS era, winning the ACC Defensive POTY, Chuck Bednarik Award, Dick Butkus Award, Jack Lambert Award, and earning consensus All-American honors. Henderson was drafted in the 2nd round and went on to play 9 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. 8 Maryland players made 1st Team All-ACC, most in the conference.
5th Quarter
What happened with Maryland from 2001-03 to have such a great 3 year run? Can Mike Locksley, their RB coach during that era, bring them back to glory? Is their ranking of those 3 seasons accurate, with 2002 being the best team and 2003 the worst? What do you think of Maryland’s place in this list as the 8th best Big Ten team, should they be ranked over Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, and Northwestern? Who’s the best NFL player from Maryland? Is EJ Henderson a top 5 linebacker of the BCS era? What’s your favorite Maryland uniform? And which Frank Reich comeback was better, college or NFL?
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