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1985 Maryland

9–⁠3 (6–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bobby Ross, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Maryland in 1985, game by game: lost vs. No. 19 Penn State 18–20; won at Boston College 31–13; won vs. West Virginia 28–0; lost at No. 12 Michigan 0–20; won at NC State 31–17; won at Wake Forest 26–3; won vs. Duke 40–10; won vs. North Carolina 28–10; lost vs. No. 8 Miami 22–29; won at Clemson 34–31; won vs. Virginia 33–21; won vs. Syracuse 35–18+30−20Lost 18–20 vs. No. 19 Penn State-2No. 19 Penn StateWon 31–13 at Boston College+18Boston CollegeWon 28–0 vs. West Virginia+28West VirginiaLost 0–20 at No. 12 Michigan-20No. 12 MichiganWon 31–17 at NC State+14NC StateWon 26–3 at Wake Forest+23Wake ForestWon 40–10 vs. Duke+30DukeWon 28–10 vs. North Carolina+18North CarolinaLost 22–29 vs. No. 8 Miami-7No. 8 MiamiWon 34–31 at Clemson+3ClemsonWon 33–21 vs. Virginia+12VirginiaWon 35–18 vs. Syracuse+17Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vs19Penn StateL 18–⁠2070%
Sep 14atBoston CollegeW 31–⁠1340%
Sep 21vsWest VirginiaW 28–⁠065%
Sep 28at12MichiganL 0–⁠2051%
Oct 5atNC StateW 31–⁠1779%
Oct 19atWake ForestW 26–⁠371%
Oct 26vsDukeW 40–⁠1087%
Nov 2vsNorth CarolinaW 28–⁠1078%
Nov 9vs8MiamiL 22–⁠2952%
Nov 16atClemsonW 34–⁠3155%
Nov 29vsVirginiaW 33–⁠2173%
Dec 21Bowls & playoffvsSyracuseCherry BowlW 35–⁠1864%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Syracuse 35–⁠18 in the Cherry Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 4: 17
  5. Wk 5: 17
  6. Wk 16: 20
  7. Final: 18

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 1985.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJ.D. Maarleveld, OG

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 7
Points
326–⁠192
Coach
Bobby Ross
Elo
1711 +82 this season
SP+ rating
19.8 No. 15 of 106; offense No. 20, defense No. 17
SRS
16.9 No. 13 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ralph Friedgen
Defensive coordinator
Gib Romaine

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 5J.D. Maarleveld OTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Donald Brown DBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Stan Gelbaugh QBDallas Cowboys
Rd 7Rick Badanjek RBWashington Redskins

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

  • Len LynchOLAP
  • Bruce MesnerDLAP
  • Chuck FaucetteLBAP
  • Al CovingtonDBAP

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland6–⁠09–⁠318
Georgia Tech5–⁠19–⁠2–⁠119
Virginia4–⁠36–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠36–⁠6
North Carolina3–⁠45–⁠6
Duke2–⁠54–⁠7
NC State2–⁠53–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠64–⁠7

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