Maryland: 3
Georgia Tech: 7

After opening the season at 1-3, Georgia Tech reeled off three straight wins to improve to 4-3 on the year with a home game against the Maryland Terrapins on the horizon. Tech had lost two straight to Maryland since its offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen departed to become the Terps head coach following the 2000 season. The Terps entered the contest at 5-2, having won each of its last five games after starting the year at 0-2.

A sloppy first quarter ended in a 0-0 tie after the Terrapins turned the ball over twice and the Jackets turned it over once. The second quarter then saw little action as the teams traded punts throughout the period. The lone attempt at a score came with roughly five minutes to play when Maryland’s Nick Novak missed a 39 yard field goal attempt wide to the left, and the squads would head to intermission still knotted at 0-0.

Late in the third quarter, the Terps capped off a 62 yard drive with a 35 yard field goal from Novak to break the scoreless tie and give Maryland a 3-0 advantage. Tech then punted after a quick three-and-out, but caught a huge break when Jonathan Cox scooped up a Joel Statham fumble at the Terrapin 35 and returned it to the 18 yard line. Reggie Ball and P.J. Daniels pushed to the Maryland 4 as the fourth quarter got underway before the former found Jonathan Smith for a 4 yard touchdown pass to jump ahead 7-3.

The Jackets pushed to the Maryland 11 late in the contest, but turned the ball over on downs with just 31 seconds to play. Nonetheless, Tech would hang on to win by a four-point margin to improve to 5-3 on the season.

Maryland went on to win its remaining four regular season games to finish at 9-3 and earn a berth in the Gator Bowl to face the West Virginia Mountaineers on New Year’s Day, 2004. The Terps would dismantle the Mountaineers by a score of 41-7 en route to a 10-3 finish and a #17 ranking in the final A.P. poll.

Statistics:

First downs:
MD – 14
GT – 14

Rushing yards:
MD – 96
GT – 130

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
MD – 14-33-157
GT – 12-28-98

Interceptions thrown:
MD – 2
GT – 1

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
MD – 5-2
GT – 1-0

Penalties (Total-Yds):
MD – 1-5
GT – 3-15

References:
http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/102303aaa.html