The next Maryland drive stalled after only 13 yards as a stingy Cavalier defense continued to swarm to the football. Then it appeared as if the Terrapins may have gained the slightest bit of momentum when they had the ‘Hoos backed into a corner. Schaub and company had 3rd and 21 from the Maryland 24 yard line. Not to worry, the Cavaliers used a weapon they used masterfully all season long to pick apart defenses and the next play was no different. Matt Schaub fired a screen pass to Wali Lundy, who then weaved his way in and out of traffic and used a devastating block by Elton Brown to spring him into the end zone for the 24 yard touchdown catch. The score was 34-7 with 7:13 remaining in the third quarter, but the Cavaliers were far from finishing in piling on the points.

The Terrapins tried to chip in to the healthy Cavalier advantage, but could only muster two Nick Novak field goals to make the score 34-13 with 10:15 remaining in the contest. They wouldn’t score any more points in the game, but the Cavaliers would pour on two more scores, touchdown runs by Wali Lundy and Michael Johnson, to make the score a frightening 48-13 when the clock finally expired.

The ‘Hoos had not only embarrassed their rival, but they also prevented the Terps from gaining a share of the league title and going to a possible BCS berth. After the game it appeared as if the Cavaliers’ performance had won over the respect of Maryland’s head coach, Ralph Friedgen. “They beat our butts,” Friedgen said. Not only that, Friedgen was clearly upset that his team had blown such a rare opportunity. “How many times like that do you have an opportunity like that to win a conference championship and maybe go to a BCS game?” Friedgen said.

It was definitely one of the most dominant performances by any Virginia football team under Al Groh. This win would probably rest right along side the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl in terms of the most dominant performances by a Cavalier team during the Al Groh era.

The Cavaliers couldn’t have done it without the precise passing of quarterback Matt Schaub, who had one of the more masterful performances of his star-studded career in orange and blue. Schaub completed 23 of his 27 attempts in the game, which means that he completed an eyebrow raising 85.1 percent of his passes. He even tossed in three touchdown passes and threw for 249 yards for good measure. Schaub really mastered the art of the screen pass in his final two years at Virginia and in this game it was on fine display. The Maryland victory marked the game in which Schaub officially became Virginia’s single-season yardage leader with 2,751 yards. The gifted quarterback would eventually go on to rewrite many more of the records at Virginia and ended his career as one of the best quarterbacks to ever suit up in Charlottesville. The game also marked a milestone for yet another Cavalier great, Billy McMullen. McMullen had seven catches in the contest and became only the third player in ACC history to haul in over 200 passes. McMullen ended his career as one of the greatest receivers ever to play for the Cavaliers and the team has still not recovered from his departure after the 2002-2003 season.

Either way you slice it, the Maryland victory in 2002 was a game in which the Cavaliers took their hated rival behind the woodshed and just embarrassed them in every aspect of the game. Not only did they embarrass them but they stopped the Terps’ eight-game winning streak and prevented them from claiming a share of the league title and a possible BCS berth. All of those reasons are why the Maryland game in 2002 will be remembered upon so fondly by Cavalier fans for years to come.

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