MIAMI – In Ralph Friedgen’s first season as head coach at the University of Maryland, his team went from raising eyebrows across the nation, to raising the expectations of thousands of Maryland football fans.

The goal went from getting to a bowl – any bowl – to thoughts of a national championship one year.

Unfortunately for Friedgen and his players Wednesday, the surprise champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference ran into a Florida team in the Orange Bowl that once had very reasonable goals of winning the whole thing this year.

The result was a thorough 56-23 drubbing at the hands of the speedy Gators that set numerous records for offensive audacity before 73,640 at Pro Player Stadium.

“I’m not proud of the way we played tonight,” said Friedgen about the Terps, who fell to 0-3 in the Orange Bowl. “I’m embarrassed. It’s my fault. I’m embarrassed for the state of Maryland."

Florida set several Orange Bowl offensive records were set in this game, including: Passing yards by one team (456, Florida); most passing touchdowns by a team (5); most yards by one team (659).

There were also several records set by the two teams combined, including: Most total points (79); total yards (1,019); most passing yards (713); most first downs (49, 30 of which were Florida’s); and most passes completed (56, 33 by Florida).

“They’ve got some great athletes,” Friedgen said. “I was in the NFL for five years and the only team that was better was the Oakland Raiders. They’ve got great team speed and an overall great (offensive) unit. Our offense tried to hang in and battle the whole way but they just have more players.”

Despite the 33-point margin, the Terps had their chances to take a potentially sizeable lead in first half.

Florida Coach Steve Spurrier chose not to start Heisman runner-up Rex Grossman at quarterback after the sophomore missed curfew earlier in the week. Maryland’s defense was able to pick off two passes from backup Brock Berlin and force a fumble by running back Earnest Graham.

Unfortunately for the Terps, they were unable to convert any of those turnovers into touchdowns, making an uphill challenge for the even more difficult.

Among those miscues was the only interception thrown by Maryland quarterback Shaun Hill (23-of-39 for 257 yards one touchdown, one interception), one play after Randal Jones intercepted a Berlin pass and returned it 30 yards to give Maryland the ball at the Florida 37.

Two possessions later, Florida marched 55 yards in two plays to take a 14-0 lead on a 46 yard touchdown pass from Berlin to Taylor Jacobs.

The Terps, who had the longest layoff of any team in the Bowl Championship Series at 46 days, finally got on the board late in the first quarter when Hill connected with Jafar Williams for a 64-yard touchdown. The score matched Maryland’s longest scoring pass play of the season.

On Florida’s next possession, Maryland cornerback Dennard Wilson intercepted a Berlin pass that first went in and out of the hands of teammate Tony Okanlawon. Wilson returned it to the Florida 3. The Terps were unable to punch it in, however, and had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Nick Novak to pull Maryland to within 14-10.

The Terps defense stopped Florida yet again, when a E.J. Henderson forced a fumble by Graham that was recovered by senior tackle Charles Hill at the Maryland 24. But after moving the ball 47 yards on 11 plays, Novak missed a 46 yard field goal to the left, to the very visible displeasure of Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen.

The miss snapped a streak of 13 consecutive successful attempts of 50 yards or less for Novak, who has struggled early in the season, but had developed into one of the Terps’ most reliable threats as the season progressed.

Following Novak’s miss, Spurrier put Grossman into the game, and the real track meet began.

Grossman found Jacobs for a 15-yard touchdown that capped a 10-play, 72-yard drive that put the Gators up 21-10.

Jacobs, who was named the game’s MVP, tied an Orange Bowl record with 10 catches and set a record with 170 yards receiving. Jacobs’ second touchdown started a streak that the Terps could not keep up with, as Grossman led the Gators to touchdown drives on six straight Florida possessions, on drives ranging from three minutes, 38 seconds at the longest to the quickest of just 19 seconds.

Maryland running back Marc Riley (nine carries for 23 yards) scored two touchdowns for Maryland. The first, came on a one-yard run to cap a 15-play, 71 yard drive that made the score 49-17 with 11:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. The second, Riley’s 12 of the season, came on a 10-yard run for the final score of the game with 5:10 remaining.

Bruce Perry was rendered largely ineffective and left the game late in the third quarter after re-aggravating an abdominal strain suffered earlier in the week. The Atlantic Coast Conference offensive player of the year finished with 22 yards on11 carries and three catches for 27 yards.

“Basically we just didn’t execute the way we should have; they way we planned,” Perry said. “When you play a great team like Florida, you have to bring your ‘A’ game and we didn’t.”

Despite the loss, Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson said the team’s prior accomplishments would not be tainted by this hard-to-swallow finale.