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1974 Maryland

8–⁠4 (6–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jerry Claiborne, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Maryland in 1974, game by game: lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 16–21; lost at Florida 10–17; won vs. North Carolina 24–12; won at Syracuse 31–0; won vs. Clemson 41–0; won vs. Wake Forest 47–0; won vs. No. 17 NC State 20–10; lost at No. 10 Penn State 17–24; won vs. Villanova 41–0; won vs. Duke 56–13; won at Virginia 10–0; lost vs. Tennessee 3–7+47−7Lost 16–21 vs. No. 3 Alabama-5No. 3 AlabamaLost 10–17 at Florida-7FloridaWon 24–12 vs. North Carolina+12North CarolinaWon 31–0 at Syracuse+31SyracuseWon 41–0 vs. Clemson+41ClemsonWon 47–0 vs. Wake Forest+47Wake ForestWon 20–10 vs. No. 17 NC State+10No. 17 NC StateLost 17–24 at No. 10 Penn State-7No. 10 Penn StateWon 41–0 vs. Villanova+41VillanovaWon 56–13 vs. Duke+43DukeWon 10–0 at Virginia+10VirginiaLost 3–7 vs. Tennessee-4Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vs3AlabamaL 16–⁠2136%
Sep 21atFloridaL 10–⁠1744%
Sep 28vsNorth CarolinaW 24–⁠1261%
Oct 5atSyracuseW 31–⁠066%
Oct 12vsClemsonW 41–⁠074%
Oct 19vsWake ForestW 47–⁠090%
Oct 26vs17NC StateW 20–⁠1055%
Nov 2at10Penn StateL 17–⁠2428%
Nov 9vsVillanovaW 41–⁠088%
Nov 16vsDukeW 56–⁠1368%
Nov 23atVirginiaW 10–⁠075%
Dec 16Bowls & playoffvsTennesseeLiberty BowlL 3–⁠754%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 7–⁠3 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The tied 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 7: 18
  5. Wk 8: 15
  6. Wk 9: 15
  7. Wk 10: 14
  8. Wk 11: 13
  9. Wk 12: 11
  10. Wk 13: 11
  11. Wk 14: 10
  12. Final: 13

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 1974.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Outland TrophyRandy White, DT; also the Lombardi

Consensus All-AmericanRandy White, DT

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 10
Points
316–⁠104
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Elo
1639 +70 this season
SP+ rating
23.7 No. 8 of 124; offense No. 21, defense No. 4
SRS
21.7 No. 6 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1975

The 1975 draft
Rd 1Randy White DTDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Steve Mike-Mayer KSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 3Louis Carter RBOakland Raiders
Rd 3Walter White TEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 5Stan Rogers OTDenver Broncos
Rd 6Bob Avellini QBChicago Bears

All-ACC

7 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1974 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1974 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland6–⁠08–⁠413
NC State4–⁠29–⁠2–⁠111
Clemson4–⁠27–⁠4
North Carolina4–⁠27–⁠5
Duke2–⁠46–⁠5
Virginia1–⁠54–⁠7
Wake Forest0–⁠61–⁠10

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