Jim Tatum
James M. "Big Jim" Tatum (July 22, 1913 – July 23, 1959) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Tatum served as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1942, 1956–1958), the University of Oklahoma (1946), and the University of Maryland, College Park (1947–1955), compiling a career college football record of 100–35–7. His 1953 Maryland team won a national title. As a head coach, he employed the split-T formation with great success, a system he had learned as an assistant under Don Faurot at the Iowa Pre-Flight School during World War II. Tatum was also the head baseball coach at Cornell University from 1937 to 1939, tallying a mark of 20–40–1. Tatum's career was cut short by his untimely death in 1959. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1984.
Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum
After upsetting second-ranked Michigan State, 34–7, Maryland climbed to an AP Poll ranking of eighth in the nation and then defeated Georgetown. The following game they met N.C. State at Byrd Stadium for Homecoming weekend. In the first quarter, a Maryland fumble rolled out of the end zone for a safety, and soon after, another fumble set up a touchdown rush by NC State. Maryland advanced inside the N.C. State five-yard line three times but was unable to score. In the third quarter, NC State scored again to expand their lead, 0–16. Maryland scored on a 21-yard pass from Jack Scarbath to Bob Shemonski. With three minutes remaining, Shemonski connected with a pass to Pete Augsburger for another touchdown. A 47-yard drive into Wolfpack territory ended with an interception in the end zone with seconds remaining. The loss effectively ended the Terrapins' hopes for a bowl game bid. The second loss dropped them out of the AP Poll for the remainder of the year.