1954 Orange Bowl The 1954 Orange Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game between the first - ranked Maryland Terrapins and the fourth - ranked Oklahoma Sooners . It was the twentieth edition of the Orange Bowl and took place at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami , Florida on January 1 , 1954 . The game was the first Orange Bowl to feature tie - ins between the Big Seven Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) champions . It was the first - ever meeting of the two teams . Maryland and Oklahoma were head coached by former colleagues Jim Tatum and Bud Wilkinson , respectively , who had previously coached together at the United States Navy ' s Iowa Pre - Flight School and the University of Oklahoma . Pre - game buildup . The game was the first postseason bowl game in which the players were required to play on both the offense and defense . This was a result of the NCAA ' s newly - instituted " one - platoon " rules that limited player substitutions . It also featured the Orange Bowl ' s first conference tie - in between the Big Seven and the ACC . Maryland . Maryland was helmed by seventh - year head coach Jim Tatum . To that point , he had compiled a record of 56 – 11 – 3 . Before that , he spent one year as the Oklahoma head coach in 1946 , where Bud Wilkinson had served as his assistant coach . The team was ranked first in the nation in the final rankings of both the Associated Press ( AP ) Poll and the United Press Coaches ' Poll . Maryland had finished the regular season with a perfect 10 – 0 record with the narrowest win being a 20 – 6 victory over Don Faurot ' s Missouri . They also recorded wins over 11th - ranked Mississippi , 38 – 0 , and 11th - ranked Alabama , 21 – 0 . Tatum said , " this is the greatest team I ever coached . " During the regular season , the Maryland defense had allowed opponents to score 31 points in ten games and recorded six defensive shut - outs . Only Georgia had been able to score more than seven points . No ACC team has since held opponents to an equal or lesser amount of points . Maryland ' s rushing defense ( 83 . 9 yards allowed per game ) and scoring defense ( 3 . 1 points allowed per game ) ranked first in the nation . Maryland had outscored its opponents 298 – 31 . No ACC team scored more total points until 1967 . Maryland ' s star quarterback , Bernie Faloney , had been injured midseason and saw limited game action for the remainder of the year . Back - up quarterback Charlie Boxold filled in for the majority of the Orange Bowl . Oklahoma . Oklahoma was led by seventh - year head coach Bud Wilkinson . He had assumed the position himself after Tatum resigned to leave for Maryland . The two had also both served as assistant coaches in the U . S . Navy for the Iowa Pre - Flight football team under Don Faurot . Faurot had pioneered the split - T offense that both Tatum and Wilkinsons ' teams employed . Since taking over at Oklahoma , Wilkinson had achieved a 62 – 8 – 3 record . Oklahoma entered the game on an eight - game winning streak with a single loss in the season - opener to Notre Dame and a tie in Week 2 against Pittsburgh . Oklahoma also had an injured quarterback , second - stringer Pat O ' Neal had separated his sternum at Miami and would miss the game . Wilkinson reportedly compiled fake playbooks and had them distributed where they would be discovered by Maryland personnel . Wilkinson later admitted that he had indeed used the ruse on occasion , without specifically stating it was employed before the 1954 Orange Bowl . Game summary . In the first quarter , Maryland started with the wind to their backs . Bill Walker kicked a punt that pinned Oklahoma on their own one - foot line . Oklahoma quarterback Gene Calame rushed twice to gain some breathing room before the Sooners punted it away . Maryland took over on the Oklahoma 37 - yard line . Quarterback Charlie Boxold completed a nine - yard pass to Dick Nolan . Halfback Chet Hanulak then connected with Nolan again . That was followed by a first down by fullback Ralph Felton on the Oklahoma four - yard line . Hanulak rushed to pick up two yards . Nolan then ran to the left but was stopped by Oklahoma back Larry Grigg for no gain . Hanulak rushed again to pick up one more yard . Felton rushed from the one - yard line , but was stopped six inches shy of the end zone , and Maryland turned over on downs . Maryland again drove inside the Oklahoma 10 - yard line . Wilkinson sent in the alternate line - up and Oklahoma again stopped Maryland short . The Sooners fumbled at their own 20 - yard line , but the Terrapins again failed to capitalize . In the second quarter , Maryland advanced to the Oklahoma 20 - yard line , and Tatum elected for a field goal attempt . Now against the wind , the kick failed , with the ball going wide right . The Sooners took over on downs and halfback Jack Ging completed a pass to end Max Boydston for a five - yard gain . Ging then rushed for three yards . On the next play , Calame pitched to Grigg who ran to the left and picked up 12 yards for a first down . Calame then completed a pass to back Bob Burris for six yards . Grigg faked a pass and ran to the right for a gain of 12 yards and a first down on the Maryland 39 - yard line . The Terrapins stopped two Sooner rushing attempts before Calame connected with Burris again for an 11 - yard gain . Burris then rushed for three more yards to advance to the Maryland 25 . Tatum called a time - out . On third down with one yard to go , Calame faked a handoff to Ging and executed an option run to the left . He pitched to Grigg and threw a block . Grigg was tackled at the goal - line but managed to extend his body into the endzone . Buddy Leake made the extra point . Shortly before halftime , Calame suffered a separated collarbone . With back - up Pat O ' Neal also injured , only third - string quarterback Jack Van Pool remained , and he had little game experience . In the third quarter , Walker attempted to punt for Maryland . Oklahoma tackle Don Brown escaped a block from Stan Jones and closed in on Walker . The punter held onto the ball and attempted to run , but Brown tackled him for a 12 - yard loss . Later , Leake punted and Hanulak returned and threatened to score . Leake , the last man between Hanulak and the endzone , made the tackle . In the fourth quarter , Boxold threw a long pass into the endzone , but it was intercepted by Grigg for a touchback with four minutes remaining . Van Pool led a 41 - yard drive to the Maryland 39 - yard line before time expired . Statistical summary . Oklahoma back Larry Grigg managed to score the only touchdown of the game and Buddy Leake made the extra point . Grigg led the Sooners in rushing with 89 yards on 13 carries . Maryland was led by Felton who gained 51 yards on ten carries . Quarterback Charlie Boxold led Maryland in passing with three completions on nine attempts for 42 yards . Dick Nolan led in receiving with two receptions for 31 yards . Oklahoma ' s passing was led by quarterback Gene Calame before he was put out of the game by injury . He completed four of four pass attempts for 22 yards . Bob Burris was the Sooners ' leading receiver with three receptions for 17 yards . Post - game effects . At the time , the final rankings were declared before postseason games . Therefore , Maryland had been declared the national championship team by the Associated Press , United Press , and International News Service , and remained the consensus national champions despite the loss . Some selectors have retroactively named Notre Dame and Oklahoma the national champions . With a 10 – 1 finish , Maryland possessed the best record in the nation . It was the first time Maryland had suffered a shutout in 51 games , the last being in 1948 at the hands of Vanderbilt . For Oklahoma , it was their ninth - straight win , and the team finished the 1953 season with a 9 – 1 – 1 record . The game was part of a streak that , under head coach Wilkinson , would last 47 games . To date , that winning streak is the longest compiled by any NCAA major college football team . Oklahoma head coach Wilkinson declined to declare his team the national champions . He addressed his team in the locker room , saying , " It was a helluva ball game . Desire , spirit , effort — anything you want to call it — won for us today . " Maryland head coach Tatum said at the post - game party , " Bud outcoached me . "