2001 ACC football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
#11 Maryland $		7	–	1		10	–	2
#15 Florida State		6	–	2		8	–	4
North Carolina		5	–	3		8	–	5
Clemson		4	–	4		7	–	5
#24 Georgia Tech		4	–	4		8	–	5
NC State		4	–	4		7	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	5		6	–	5
Virginia		3	–	5		5	–	7
Duke		0	–	8		0	–	11

$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in its 49th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference' (ACC). The Terps closed the regular season with a record of 10–2, with its only loss coming to Florida State. The Terps won the ACC championship and were granted a Bowl Championship Series berth in the 2002 Orange Bowl. It was Maryland's first bowl game since 1990, first winning season since 1995, and first conference championship since 1985.

In 2001, despite the Terrapins' disappointing recent finishes, Ralph Friedgen inherited a good situation as their new head coach. His predecessor, Ron Vanderlinden, and the Maryland team had just barely fallen shy of winning seasons for the last two years in a row. Additionally, the 2001 squad was returning many experienced, quality players.

Maryland won its first four games, including against strong conference competitor Wake Forest (27–20) and regional rival West Virginia (32–20), to earn a spot in the AP rankings for the first time since September 1995, at #25. The Terrapins then met their main rival Virginia in College Park, and beat them by a 20-point margin (41–21).

The Terps went on to Atlanta to face #15 Georgia Tech. With 5 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, and Maryland trailing 17-14, the Terps were forced to try for the tying field goal from 46 yards. Their kicker, redshirt freshman Nick Novak, had earlier missed a field goal attempt, bouncing it off an upright, and had an overall unimpressive record in his early career. However, Novak made the 46-yard field goal, sending the game into overtime, where he again made good on a 26-yard field goal, winning the game for Maryland (20–17). By the end of his college career Novak would go on to become the ACC all-time leading point scorer with 393 points, and capture the ACC record for 80 field goals.

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