CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1955 Maryland

10–⁠1 (4–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jim Tatum, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Maryland in 1955, game by game: won at Missouri 13–12; won vs. UCLA 7–0; won at Baylor 20–6; won vs. Wake Forest 28–7; won at North Carolina 25–7; won at Syracuse 34–13; won vs. South Carolina 27–0; won vs. LSU 13–0; won at Clemson 25–12; won vs. George Washington 19–0; lost vs. No. 1 Oklahoma 6–20+27−14Won 13–12 at Missouri+1MissouriWon 7–0 vs. UCLA+7UCLAWon 20–6 at Baylor+14BaylorWon 28–7 vs. Wake Forest+21Wake ForestWon 25–7 at North Carolina+18North CarolinaWon 34–13 at Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 27–0 vs. South Carolina+27South CarolinaWon 13–0 vs. LSU+13LSUWon 25–12 at Clemson+13ClemsonWon 19–0 vs. George Washington+19George Washingt…Lost 6–20 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma-14No. 1 Oklahoma
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 17atMissouriW 13–⁠1265%
Sep 24vsUCLAW 7–⁠054%
Oct 1atBaylorW 20–⁠654%
Oct 8vsWake ForestW 28–⁠784%
Oct 15atNorth CarolinaW 25–⁠777%
Oct 22atSyracuseW 34–⁠1365%
Oct 29vsSouth CarolinaW 27–⁠088%
Nov 5vsLSUW 13–⁠089%
Nov 12atClemsonW 25–⁠1267%
Nov 19vsGeorge WashingtonW 19–⁠087%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs1OklahomaOrange BowlL 6–⁠2047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oklahoma 20–⁠6 in the Orange Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 5
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 2
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 1
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 3
  12. Final: 3

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1955.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions4–⁠0 in the conference, shared with Duke

Consensus All-AmericanBob Pellegrini, C/LB

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠0 shared first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 1
Points
217–⁠77
Coach
Jim Tatum
Elo
1762 +100 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
18.3 No. 7 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offense
Split-T

Drafted in 1956

The 1956 draft
Rd 1Bob Pellegrini CPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 1Ed Vereb RBWashington Redskins

All-ACC

6 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Bill WalkerEAP-2; UP-1
  • Mike SanduskyOTAP-1; UP-1
  • Jack DavisOGAP-1; UP-2
  • Bob PelligriniCAP-1; UP-1
  • Ed VerebBAP-1; UP-1
  • Frank TamburelloBAP-1; UP-2

Second team

  • Russell DennisEAP-2; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1955 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1955 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland4–⁠010–⁠13
Duke4–⁠07–⁠2–⁠1
Clemson3–⁠17–⁠3
Wake Forest3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
North Carolina3–⁠33–⁠7
South Carolina1–⁠53–⁠6
NC State0–⁠2–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Virginia0–⁠41–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.