1945 Maryland Terrapins football team

The 1945 Maryland Terrapins football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maryland as a member of the Southern Conference during the 1945 college football season. In its first and only season under head coach Bear Bryant, the team compiled a 6–2–1 record (2–2 in conference), tied for fifth place in the conference, and outscored opponents by a total of 219 to 105.[1][2]

1945 Maryland Terrapins football
Bear Bryant as Maryland head coach in 1945
ConferenceSouthern Conference
1945 record6–2–1 (3–2 Southern)
Head coach
Home stadiumByrd Stadium (original)
1945 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 13 Duke $ 4 –0 –0  6 –2 –0
No. 19 Wake Forest 4 –1 –1  5 –3 –1
William & Mary 4 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Clemson 2 –1 –1  6 –3 –1
Maryland 3 –2 –0  6 –2 –1
VMI 3 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
North Carolina 2 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
NC State 2 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
VPI 2 –5 –0  2 –6 –0
South Carolina 0 –3 –2  2 –4 –3
Richmond 0 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Bryant, then 31 years old, was hired as Maryland's head coach in early September, approximately three weeks before the season began. Bryant had served in the Navy for the prior three years. He had been an assistant coach of the 1944 North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football team and was scheduled to be the team's head coach in 1945. However, the Navy announced in late August that the Navy's Pre-Flight schools would not field football teams in 1945.[3] Bryant brought 20 number of players from the disbanded North Carolina Pre-Flight with him to Maryland.[4]

No Maryland player were named to the 1945 All-Southern Conference football team selected by coaches and sports writers for the Associated Press.[5]

In January 1946, after only four months at Maryland, Bryant resigned his position to become head coach at Kentucky.[6] According to one report, Bryant did not get along with university president Curley Byrd. In one incident, Byrd reinstated a player who Bryant had suspended for a violation of team rules.[7]

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 28Guilford*
W 60–66,000[8]
October 6at Richmond
W 21–0< 2,000[9]
October 12Merchant Marine*
  • Byrd Stadium
  • College Park, MD
W 22–68,000[10]
October 20at VPI
L 13–216,500[11]
October 27at West Virginia*
T 13–1312,000[12]
November 3William & Mary
  • Byrd Stadium
  • College Park, MD
L 14–337,500[13]
November 10VMI
  • Byrd Stadium
  • College Park, MD
W 38–07,000[14]
November 24vs. No. 13 Virginia*
W 19–1315,000[15]
December 1at South Carolina
W 19–138,000[16]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References
  1. "1945 Maryland Terrapins Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  2. "Maryland Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Maryland. 2018. p. 8. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  3. "Bryant, Ex-'Bama Star, New Terp Grid Coach". The Baltimore Sun. September 5, 1945. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Navy Gridmen Join Maryland: Twenty Men From N.C. Pre-Flight Follow Coach Bryant". The Baltimore Sun. September 20, 1945. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Southern Conference All-Star Team Named". The Baltimore Sun. December 8, 1945. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Randall Cassell (January 15, 1946). "Aides To Follow Bryant To Kentucky, Liners Must Rebuild Coaching Corps". The Evening Sun (Baltimore). p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Phillips, B. J. (September 29, 1980). "Football's Supercoach". Time. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  8. "Terps Smother Guilford, 60-6". The Baltimore Sun. September 29, 1945. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Maryland Trips Richmond, 21-0". The Baltimore Sun. October 7, 1945. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Craig E. Taylor (October 13, 1945). "Mariners Bow To Maryland: Terps Beat Merchant Marine Eleven, 22 To 6". The Baltimore Sun. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "V.P.I. Spills Maryland, 21-13, For Terps' First Defeat of Season". The Baltimore Sun. October 21, 1945. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "West Virginia Eleven Rallies To Tie U. Of Maryland In 13-To-13 Game". The Baltimore Sun. October 28, 1945. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. William O. Varn (November 4, 1945). "W&M Tribe Comes From Behind To Trounce Terps: Last-Half Avalanche Wins, 33-14". Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia). p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Maryland Rolls To 38-0 Victory Over V.M.I. On Home-Coming Day". The Baltimore Sun. November 11, 1945. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Craig E. Taylor (November 25, 1945). "Maryland Hands Virginia First Defeat Of Season, 19-13: Cavaliers Beaten By Long Pass". The Baltimore Sun. pp. 1, 23 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "U. Of Maryland Gridders Outlast South Carolina To Win, 19 To 13: Victors Roll To Early Lead". The Baltimore Sun. December 2, 1945. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
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