List of Maryland Terrapins football seasons The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) . In its 116 active years , the team has played in over a thousand games , including 23 post - season bowl game appearances . The Terrapins have been awarded 2 national championships , 11 conference champions , and 17 times received a final ranking in the Associated Press ( AP ) Poll . Maryland is the only Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) team to have twice secured three consecutive outright conference championships . Many Maryland alumni have continued their playing careers in professional football , including Randy White , Boomer Esiason , Shawne Merriman , Dick Modzelewski , and Stan Jones . The modern Maryland Terrapins football program traces to the team first formed by quarterback Will Skinner in 1892 at what was then known as the Maryland Agricultural College . Since then , the Terrapins ( commonly known as the " Terps " ) have experienced their most success under head coaches Jim Tatum , Jerry Claiborne , Bobby Ross , and Ralph Friedgen . Between 1947 and 1955 , Jim Tatum led the Terps to two national championships , two ACC championships , a Southern Conference championship , and five bowl game appearances . In 1952 , Maryland quarterback Jack Scarbath was the runner - up to the Heisman Trophy , which is awarded to college football ' s most outstanding player . The next year , coach Tatum led the team through an undefeated regular season . This resulted in Maryland being awarded the 1953 National Championship . During Jerry Claiborne ' s tenure , from 1972 to 1981 , the team captured three consecutive ACC championships and made seven bowl game appearances , the most of any Maryland coach to date . In Bobby Ross ' s five years at Maryland , from 1982 to 1986 , he led the team to three consecutive ACC championships and four bowl appearances . In 1984 , quarterback Frank Reich led the team to victory from a 31 – 0 halftime deficit against Miami in what was then the greatest comeback in NCAA football history . This period was marked by bitter competition for ACC primacy with 1981 national champions Clemson , and between 1974 and 1988 , each team won six conference championships . In 1986 , when Maryland basketball star Len Bias suffered a drug overdose , it sent a ripple - effect through the athletic department . Bobby Ross said that he was offended by unfounded " innuendo , insinuation and guilt by association " aimed at the football team and resigned as head coach . In the following fourteen years , Maryland had two winning seasons and appeared in one bowl game . In 2001 , Ralph Friedgen took over a Maryland team that had one winning season in the past decade , and led them to an ACC championship and a Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) game in his first season . In the following two years , Friedgen became the only ACC head coach to have led his team to win ten games in each of his first three seasons . In his ten - year tenure , Friedgen led the Terrapins to seven bowl appearances . Most recently , Maryland concluded the 2010 season with a 9 - 4 record , a win in the Military Bowl , and a top 25 national ranking .