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1978 Maryland

9–⁠3 (5–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jerry Claiborne, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Maryland in 1978, game by game: won vs. Tulane 31–7; won at Louisville 24–17; won at North Carolina 21–20; won vs. Kentucky 20–3; won vs. No. 20 NC State 31–7; won at Syracuse 24–9; won vs. Wake Forest 39–0; won at Duke 27–0; lost at No. 2 Penn State 3–27; won at Virginia 17–7; lost vs. No. 12 Clemson 24–28; lost vs. No. 14 Texas 0–42+39−42Won 31–7 vs. Tulane+24TulaneWon 24–17 at Louisville+7LouisvilleWon 21–20 at North Carolina+1North CarolinaWon 20–3 vs. Kentucky+17KentuckyWon 31–7 vs. No. 20 NC State+24No. 20 NC StateWon 24–9 at Syracuse+15SyracuseWon 39–0 vs. Wake Forest+39Wake ForestWon 27–0 at Duke+27DukeLost 3–27 at No. 2 Penn State-24No. 2 Penn StateWon 17–7 at Virginia+10VirginiaLost 24–28 vs. No. 12 Clemson-4No. 12 ClemsonLost 0–42 vs. No. 14 Texas-42No. 14 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsTulaneW 31–⁠779%
Sep 16atLouisvilleW 24–⁠1760%
Sep 23atNorth CarolinaW 21–⁠2045%
Sep 30vsKentuckyW 20–⁠353%
Oct 7vs20NC StateW 31–⁠764%
Oct 14atSyracuseW 24–⁠975%
Oct 21vsWake ForestW 39–⁠092%
Oct 28atDukeW 27–⁠071%
Nov 4at2Penn StateL 3–⁠2734%
Nov 11atVirginiaW 17–⁠787%
Nov 18vs12ClemsonL 24–⁠2863%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvs14TexasSun BowlL 0–⁠4251%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas 42–⁠0 in the Sun Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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 2: 20
  2. Wk 3: 18
  3. Wk 4: 15
  4. Wk 5: 12
  5. Wk 6: 10
  6. Wk 7: 6
  7. Wk 8: 5
  8. Wk 9: 5
  9. Wk 10: 13
  10. Wk 11: 11
  11. Wk 12: 13
  12. Wk 13: 13
  13. Wk 14: 13
  14. Final: 20

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 1978.

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠1 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 5
Points
261–⁠167
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Elo
1639 +46 this season
SP+ rating
17.0 No. 19 of 133; offense No. 41, defense No. 8
SRS
13.5 No. 23 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 2Steve Atkins RBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 3Charles Johnson DTGreen Bay Packers

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠011–⁠16
Maryland5–⁠19–⁠320
NC State4–⁠29–⁠318
North Carolina3–⁠35–⁠6
Duke2–⁠44–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠51–⁠10
Virginia0–⁠62–⁠9

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