1951 Maryland Terrapins football team

The 1951 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the

The team was selected national champion by NCAA-designated major selectors of Dunkel, Football Research, National Championship Foundation, Sagarin, and Sagarin (ELO-Chess).^[4][a]

Before the season

Maryland had ended the previous season on a two-game winning streak, which it extended through the duration of the 1951 season. The following year, the Terrapins continued that streak for seven additional games before a loss to 11th-ranked Mississippi. In total, Maryland won 22 straight games from 1950 to 1952, which remains the longest winning streak in program history.^[6] One Associated Press writer characterized the 1950 season's 7–2–1 record as a disappointment to "never-satisfied alumni" who had hoped for an undefeated season and first-ever Southern Conference championship.^[7]

Respected sports prognosticator

On the whole, Maryland returned a seasoned team that included 22 lettermen, and the United Press described the team as "bigger and bruisier than ever."[11] They were led by junior quarterback Jack Scarbath who gained significant experience in the split-T the previous season,^[11] in which he started the first six games before suffering an injury.^[13] He was backed up by a capable reservist in sophomore quarterback Bernie Faloney.^[13] (In 1952, Scarbath was the Heisman Trophy runner-up,^[14] and the following year, Faloney finished fourth in the voting.^[15])

Scarbath was accompanied in the

The position(s) for each player are annotated in parentheses (for an explanation of the abbreviations used see American football positions).^[6][13]

Coaching staff

Jim Tatum served as the head coach for his fifth year at Maryland in the 1951 season. All told, he served a nine-year tenure at College Park and compiled a 73–15–4 record for a winning percentage of 0.819, the highest among Maryland coaches in the modern era.^[3] Tatum later gained national recognition, with Time magazine later calling him "the most successful major college coach in the game", and 1951 proved to be his breakout season.^[2] Tatum employed the split-T, which he had learned firsthand as the protégé of its pioneer, Don Faurot. This new offensive system sought to emulate the "two-on-one" fast break of basketball, with the aim of creating an undefended back.^[16]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 29	at Washington and Lee	No. 16	Wilson Field Lexington, VA	W 54–14	9,000	[17]
October 6	George Washington	No. 9	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 33–6	25,732	[18]
October 13	at Georgia*	No. 10	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	W 43–7	30,000	[19]
October 20	North Carolina	No. 7	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 14–7	31,237	[20]
October 27	at LSU*	No. 5	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	W 27–0	38,000	[21]
November 3	Missouri*	No. 4	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 35–0	23,612	[22]
November 10	vs. Municipal Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)	W 40–21	38,000	[23]
November 17	NC State	No. 5	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 53–0	17,140	[24]
November 24	West Virginia	No. 4	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	W 54–7	14,385	[25]
January 3	vs. No. 1 Tennessee*	No. 3	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	W 28–13	82,271	[26]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Washington & Lee

The season opened against

In the first quarter, Maryland engineered a 79-yard drive. Ralph Felton gained the last 27 yards for the score. North Carolina responded with a 41-yard drive capped by a touchdown by Bob Gantt. In the second quarter, Bob Shemonski broke the stalemate with a touchdown pass to Lou Weidensaul for the go-ahead. In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Maryland's Joe Petruzzo broke up a pass in the end zone to preserve the victory, 14–7.^[30]

It was the 18th game of the series and the first Maryland win in eleven meetings. The previous one had been in 1926.^[31]

Louisiana State

Maryland then traveled to Baton Rouge to face Southeastern Conference powerhouse Louisiana State. A tough LSU defense held Maryland scoreless through the first and most of the second quarter. Late in the first half, LSU's Jim Barton and Bernie Faloney exchanged several punts, until Maryland gained good field position on the Tigers' 43-yard line. Ed Modzelewski helped lead a five-play drive capped by a quarterback sneak by Scarbath for the first score of the game. On the next Maryland possession, Scarbath dodged several LSU tacklers and ran for a 56-yard touchdown. At halftime, the Terrapins led, 13–0. In the third quarter, Maryland executed a sweep and double reverse, which allowed Bob Shemonski to rush for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Ed Modzelewski tossed the ball to Chet Hanulak for the final score of the game. Maryland won, 27–0.^[32]

Missouri

Missouri was led by head coach Don Faurot, inventor of the split-T offense and former mentor of Jim Tatum. The Terrapin defense shut-down the Tigers' spread offense and held it to seven completions on 28 attempts. Joe Horning intercepted a Tiger pass and returned it 100 yards for a score. All told, Maryland compiled 350 rushing yards and zero passing yards on three incomplete pass attempts. Missouri recorded 103 passing yards and 92 rushing yards.^[33]

Navy

Early in the first quarter, Navy's Frank Brady returned a punt 100 yards for a touchdown and gave the Mids a 7-0 lead, marking the only time during the entire 1951 season that Maryland trailed an opponent in a game. Scarbath connected with receivers on 16 of 34 pass attempts for 285 passing yards and two interceptions. Ed Modzelewski and Paul Weidensaul each scored touchdowns.^[34]

NC State

At College Park, Maryland sought revenge against

Shortly before the game, Maryland accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.^[35]

West Virginia

In the first quarter, Ed Modzelewski rushed 16 yards for the opening touchdown. Maryland scored three more touchdowns on each of its subsequent possessions. Lloyd Colteryahn caught a ten-yard pass from Scarbath for the fifth and final Terrapins' touchdown of the first half. In the second, Maryland scored 19 unanswered points, which culminated in a 77-yard run by Joe Horning.^[36]

Tennessee (Sugar Bowl)

Tennessee was led by triple-threat quarterback and Heisman runner-up Hank Lauricella.^[37][39] Head coach Neyland's offensive linemen were described as not large but "squatty" and "bruiser[s], not flashy, but slightly murderous." Neyland considered the split-T offense used by Tatum gimmicky and relied on the more traditional single-wing formation. He subscribed to the adage that, when the ball was thrown, "three things could happen, and two of them were bad."^[37] For the game, Tatum himself abandoned the split-T in favor of a smashmouth approach to run it up the middle, where he thought "they least expected [it]." Neyland's strategy focused heavily on punting the ball to pin the opponent in their own territory with a goal of creating turnovers, and Tatum likewise adopted it.^[37]

The game started with both teams exchanging several punts in the first quarter. Maryland gained good field position after Lauricella kicked a short punt. Running backs

extra point was no good. At the end of the first half, Maryland had stunned Tennessee by gaining a 21–6 lead.^[41] In the third quarter, Fullerton intercepted a pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. In the final minutes, Tennessee's goal-line quarterback Herky Payne ran it in from the one-yard line. Maryland won the game with a final result of 28–13.^[40][41]

After the season

Maryland finished as the nation's only untied, undefeated team that had played a ten-game schedule. The final wire service rankings, however, were released prior to the bowl games at the time. Therefore, Maryland held a final ranking as the number-three team in the nation, behind first-ranked Tennessee (10–1) and second-ranked Michigan State (9–0).^[42] To date, the 1951 Terrapins remain Maryland's only undefeated, untied team of the modern era.^[6]

Several championship selectors have retroactively named Maryland the 1951 national champions. These include the following NCAA-recognized sources:

1893

.

Awards

Bob Ward was named a consensus first-team All-American and Dick Modzelewski and Ed Modzelewski were named second-team All-Americans.^[45] Dave Cianelli, Tom Cosgrove, Joe Petruzzo, and Jack Scarbath were named honorable mention All-Americans.^[46] Jim Tatum was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year. Bob Ward received the Knute Rockne Award and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year. Ward and Ed Modzelewski were named All-Southern Conference.^[47]

See also

• Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum (1947–1955)

Notes

1. ^ Based on a statistical technique used by College Football Reference that uses unweighted victory margin and strength of schedule, this was the number one ranked team in school history dating back to games played in 1917. It was 22.74 points better than the average Division I team in 1951. Using this computational method, it was 3rd best overall college football team in 1951.^[5]

References

1. United Press
   wire services selected the championship team before the postseason bowl games.
2. ^ ^{a b} The Coach, Time, August 3, 1959.
3. ^ ^{a b} Records Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine(PDF), 2007 Maryland Terrapins Football Media Guide, University of Maryland, p. 55, retrieved 14 January 2009. 2009-05-07.
4. ^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2017. p. 113. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
5. ^ "Maryland Terrapins College Football History, Stats, Records". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Year-By-Year Results Archived 2018-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, 2007 Terrapin Football Record Book, University of Maryland, p. 17–22, 2007, retrieved February 4, 2009.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Maryland Ready For Best Season, The Rock Hill Herald, September 7, 1951.
8. ^ Granny Rice Makes Annual Grid Forecast For Look, The Dispatch, August 31, 1951.
9. ^ Maryland Favorite To Take Southern Crown, Times Daily, September 2, 1951.
10. ^ SC Football Teams Start Workouts; North Carolina And Clemson Are Sleepers; VPI, Spiders to Rely Heavily on Freshmen, The Free Lance-Star, September 1, 1951.
11. ^ ^{a b c d e} Maryland Rated Tops In Southern Grid Conference This Year; No Rival as Strong as Terrapins With 22 Lettermen on Squad, North Carolina Depends on Sophomores, Reading Eagle, September 18, 1951.
12. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1951, pp. 277–278.
13. ^ ^{a b c d} Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, pp. 162–164.
14. ^ 1952 – 18th Award, Heisman.com, retrieved December 10, 2008. Archived 2009-06-25.
15. ^ 1953 - 19th Award Archived 2009-07-01 at the Wayback Machine, Heisman.com, retrieved December 20, 2008.
16. ^ Don Faurot's Split-T Formation, University of Missouri, retrieved June 22, 2009. Archived 2009-06-25.
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27. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 165.
28. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 166.
29. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 167.
30. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 168.
31. ^ North Carolina vs Maryland 1869-2007, Stassen College Football Information, retrieved January 30, 2009.
32. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 169.
33. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 170.
34. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 171.
35. ^ ^{a b} Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 172.
36. ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 173.
37. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Vic Gold, The Greatest Game, Washingtonian magazine, 1 January 2002, retrieved 15 January 2009.
38. ^ Maryland Loses First String End, Oswego Palladium-Times, December 28, 1950, retrieved January 31, 2009.
39. ^ 1951 - 17th Award Archived 2009-08-04 at the Wayback Machine, Heisman.com, retrieved 15 January 2009.
40. ^ ^{a b} Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1952, p. 174&175.
41. ^ ^{a b} All-Time Postseason Results Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), 2001 Maryland Terrapins Football Media Guide, 2001, p. 155, retrieved 25 January 2009.
42. ^ 1951 Final AP Football Poll Archived 2009-10-03 at the Wayback Machine, AP Poll Archive, retrieved January 30, 2009.
43. ^ 2007 NCAA Division I Football Records Book Archived June 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (PDF), National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2007, retrieved January 15, 2009.
44. ^ Tatum's Undefeated Terps Are Still the Greatest; Undefeated Team Finished No. 3, Beat No. 1 Tennessee in Sugar Bowl, The Washington Post, January 2, 2002.
45. ^ ACC All-Americans Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Media Guide, Atlantic Coast Conference, 2007, retrieved 16 January 2009.
46. ^ All-Time Honors Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), 2001 Maryland Terrapins Football Media Guide, CBS Sports, retrieved 8 December 2008.
47. ^ Records (PDF), 2007 Southern Conference Football Media Guide, Southern Conference, p. 141–147, 2007, retrieved 6 October 2008.