The 1953 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

in the

1953 college football season The 1953 college football season finished with the Maryland Terrapins capturing the AP, INS, and UPI national championship after Notre Dame held the top spot for the first nine weeks. The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners defeated Maryland in the Orange ...

in its first season as a member of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). Maryland outscored its opponents 298–38 and recorded six defensive shutouts.

Jim Tatum Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * Jim (comics), ...

served as the head coach for the seventh year of his nine-year tenure. In the postseason, Maryland lost to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the

1954 Orange Bowl The 1954 Orange Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game between the first-ranked 1953 Maryland Terrapins football team, Maryland Terrapins and the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners football, Oklahoma Sooners. It was the twentieth ed ...

.Year-by-Year Results
PDF), ''2008 Maryland Football Media Guide'', University of Maryland, 2008. Accessed 2009-06-15. 2009-06-17. The team was selected national champion by

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

, and

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

, leading to a consensus national champion designation.

Schedule

Personnel

The 1953 team consisted of the following letterwinners: *George Albrecht *Ralph Baierl *Lynn Beightol *

Dick Bielski Richard Adam Bielski (born September 7, 1932) is a former American football player and coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Baltimore Colts. Bielski played college ...

*Ray Blackburn *Jack Bowersox *Charles Boxold *Don Brougher *Dick Burgee *Marty Crytzer *Russell Dennis *

Bernie Faloney Bernie Faloney (June 15, 1932 – June 14, 1999) was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League (primarily with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and an outstanding American college football player at the University of Maryland. Born in ...

Ralph Felton Ralph Dwain "Rass" Felton (May 21, 1932 – January 22, 2011) was an American football player. Felton played college football at the University of Maryland at College Park and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1954 NFL Draft. He was a lineb ...

*Tim Flynn *

Chet Hanulak Chet Hanulak (March 28, 1933- September 10, 2021) was a former professional American football player who played running back for four seasons for the Cleveland Browns. Hanulak played football at Hackensack High School and was recruited to play ...

*Fred Heffner *Herb Hoffman *Joe Horning *John Irvine * Stan Jones *Jim Kilgallen *Paul Kramer *Tom McLuckie * Bob Morgan *

Dick Nolan Rick Nolan is a Minnesota politician. Richard Nolan may also refer to *Dick Nolan (American football) (1932–2007), American football player, father of Mike Nolan, former head coach of San Francisco 49ers *Dick Nolan (musician) (1939–2005), Cana ...

*Dave Nusz *George Palahunik *Jim Parsons *

Bob Pellegrini Robert Francis Pellegrini (November 13, 1934 – April 11, 2008) was an American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. He played college football at University of Maryland, Co ...

*Richard Shipley *

Ed Vereb Edward John Vereb (May 21, 1934 – December 18, 2014) was an American football halfback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions and the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at t ...

Ron Waller Ron Waller (February 14, 1933 – December 16, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He played in the National Football League (NFL) as a running back for the Los Angeles Rams from 1955 through 1958 and for the American Football League ...

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

*John Weiciecowski The coaching staff consisted of:Assistant Coaches
(PDF), ''2007 Terrapin Football Record Book'', p. 4, University of Maryland, 2007. *

, head coach *Emmett Cheek * Warren Giese, ends *

Jack Hennemier John M. Hennemier ( – November 6, 1993) was an American gridiron football coach and scout. He served as the head coach for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for one and a half seasons, and also held assistant coachi ...

, defensive line *

Tommy Mont Thomas Allison Mont (June 20, 1922 – January 1, 2012) was an American educator, university administrator, college football coach, and National Football League (NFL) player. He played quarterback for the Washington Redskins as a back-up behind S ...

, backfield *Vernon Seibert *

Eddie Teague Edward Lindell Teague Jr. (December 14, 1921 – November 24, 1987) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, from 1949 to 1950 and T ...

, defensive backfield * Bob Ward

References

{{Atlantic Coast Conference football champions

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Maryland Terrapins football seasons College football national champions Atlantic Coast Conference football champion seasons

Maryland Terrapins football The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland, College Park in the sport of American football. The Terrapins compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Big Ten Conference. The Terrapins jo ...