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
In week two, Maryland met first-ranked UCLA for the second half of a home-and-home series in a game dubbed "The Best of the East vs. the Best of the West." It was a rain-soaked defensive contest at Byrd Stadium, where Maryland held UCLA's rushing attack to −21 yards. UCLA quarterback Ronnie Knox completed 10 of 15 passes for 100 yards but also threw two interceptions. Late in the first quarter, Knox's passing brought the Bruins to the Maryland three-yard line. On the next play, UCLA advanced to the one-foot line before Bob Pellegrini tackled second-string fullback Doug Peters to force a fumble. Maryland made the only score when, in the third quarter, quarterback Frank Tamburello executed an option run and pitched to halfback Ed Vereb, who ran it 15 yards into the end zone. With the victory, the Terrapins became the first-ranked team.