2001 Maryland Terrapins football team The 2001 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in its 49th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference . The Terps closed the regular season with a record of 10 – 1 , with its only loss coming to Florida State . The Terps won the ACC Championship and were granted a Bowl Championship Series berth in the 2002 Orange Bowl . It was Maryland ' s first bowl game since 1990 , first winning season since 1995 , and first conference championship since 1985 . Preseason . In 2001 , despite the Terrapins ' disappointing recent finishes , Ralph Friedgen inherited a good situation as their new head coach . His predecessor , Ron Vanderlinden , and the Maryland team had just barely fallen shy of winning seasons for the last two years in a row . Additionally , the 2001 squad was returning many experienced , quality players . Regular season . Maryland won its first four games , including against strong conference competitor Wake Forest ( 27 – 20 ) and regional rival West Virginia ( 32 – 20 ) , to earn a spot in the AP rankings for the first time since September 1995 , at # 25 . The Terrapins then met their main rival Virginia on Homecoming weekend at College Park , and beat them by a 20 - point margin ( 41 – 21 ) . The Terps went on to Atlanta to face # 15 Georgia Tech . With 5 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter , and Maryland trailing 17 - 14 , the Terps were forced to try for the tying field goal from 46 yards . Their kicker , redshirt freshman Nick Novak , had earlier missed a field goal attempt , bouncing it off an upright , and had an overall unimpressive record in his early career . However , Novak made the 46 - yard field goal , sending the game into overtime , where he again made good on a 26 - yard field goal , winning the game for Maryland ( 20 – 17 ) . By the end of his college career Novak would go on to become the ACC all - time leading point scorer with 393 points , and capture the ACC record for 80 field goals . After sailing past Duke ( 59 – 17 ) at home , then # 10 Maryland traveled to Tallahassee to face # 18 Florida State . Despite being tied through the third quarter ( 31 – 31 ) , Florida State handed Maryland their only defeat ( 52 – 31 ) during the season , dropping their AP ranking to # 15 . Maryland then defeated , 47 – 14 . The Terrapins played the season ' s final home game against Clemson , which they defeated , 37 – 20 , to ensure at least a share of the ACC championship . The following week , Maryland secured the ACC title outright when quarterback Shaun Hill threw a short touchdown pass to Guilian Gary in the front corner of the end zone with 41 seconds remaining to defeat NC State , 23 – 19 . The Terrapins closed the regular season ranked # 6 in the nation and first in the conference , with a record of 10 – 1 ( ACC : 7 – 1 ) . The Terrapins , having secured the 2001 ACC championship , became the first time any team other than Florida State had won it outright since Florida State entered the conference in 1991 . Additionally , Ralph Friedgen became the only first - year coach to ever win the ACC title . Postseason . As ACC champions , the Terps earned a berth in the Orange Bowl to face Steve Spurrier ' s # 5 Florida out of the SEC , in a BCS match - up . The Gators beat the Terrapins with a lop - sided result ( 56 – 23 ) . Thus , Maryland ended the post - season with a 10 – 2 record , ranked # 10 in the nation . Team Players in the NFL . The following players were selected in the 2002 NFL Draft . Quarterback Shaun Hill was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent .