In honor of today’s Friday night lights game against Northern Illinois, I want to take Maryland fans back to 14 years ago today in a muggy game against Miami to open the 2011 season.

I have a couple of notes to remind readers before I discuss one of the special games in Maryland football history….

Now, onto the game. A new era of Maryland football began after Terps alumnus Ralph Friedgen departed the university after a successful tenure of 10 seasons (2001-2010). Enter Edsall, who came from UConn. He led the program to tremendous success, promoting it from NCAA Division I-AA play to NCAA Division I-A play, which led to five bowl games (including the BCS bowl) and two bowl victories.

Maryland hosted the Miami Hurricanes in their 2011 season opener, a muggy, wet game that also introduced the Maryland uniforms, which featured the flag design on both the jerseys and helmets.

Maryland “state flag” white uniforms.
Drip or drop? pic.twitter.com/1moPyYNYML

— FB_Helmet_Guy (@FB_Helmet_Guy) March 26, 2025

The Terps would lead 10-0 early in the second quarter after a 10-yard touchdown pass by O’Brien to Ronnie Tyler in the first and later a 24-yard field goal in the beginning of the second.

The rest of the second quarter would flood in some more scoring, Miami scoring its first touchdown to trail by three, followed by a Maryland field goal to lead 13-7 with 5:50. The Hurricanes immediately responded when future NFL Pro Bowler running back, Lamar Miller, ran a 40-yard sprint to the endzone, giving Miami its first lead of the night. That lead would be short-lived as the Hurricanes fumbled on their next offensive possession, leading to a 30-yard return for a touchdown by Maryland’s Joe Vellano, who housed it, giving the Terps a 20-14 lead into the half.

In the third, Miami opened up the quarter on a nine-play 62 yard drive that was capped off by quarterback, Stephen Morris running it in to reclaim the lead 21-20 for the Hurricanes.

Maryland answered again, kicking a field goal to lead 23-21 in the final quarter.

The Terps had a chance to extend their lead to six, but missed a 23-yard field goal, and the Hurricanes turned, driving down the field, and made a field goal of their own to lead 24-23 with 4:01 remaining in the game.

Maryland drove down the field, partly due to a 52-yard connection from O’Brien to Maryland receiver Kevin Dorsey down the sideline. This set them up for a 32-yard field goal to retake the lead 26-24 with less than a minute and a half on the clock.

Morris was able to drive the Hurricanes down to the Maryland 49, which set them up for a fourth-and-four after missing a throw on third down. On the ensuing play, Morris looked for his receiver on the right sideline past the first down marker, who ran a curl route, but Maryland cornerback Cameron Chism jumped the pass and picked it off, returning it to the house to seal the 32-24 victory for the Terps.

What a game

On this day 14 years ago, Maryland football opened the Randy Edsall era by scoring nine points in the final 1:39 of regulation to take down Miami (FL), 32-24

Back inside The Shell tonight 🐢 pic.twitter.com/zDD4ZN6S1K

— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) September 5, 2025

A remarkable moment at SECU Stadium and in Terps football history.