1985 Cherry Bowl

The 1985 Cherry Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Atlantic Coast Conference's Maryland Terrapins and the Syracuse Orangemen. After an early 10–6 lead, The Orangemen gave up 22 unanswered second-quarter points, falling too far behind for a comeback and allowing the Terps to win with a final score of 35–18.

1985 Cherry Bowl
Final edition bowl game
Maryland Terrapins Syracuse Orangemen (8–3) (7–4) 35 18 Head coach:  Bobby Ross Head coach:  Dick MacPherson AP Coaches 20 NR
1 2 3 4 Total Maryland 6 22 7 0 35 Syracuse 3 7 8 0 18
Date	December 21, 1985
Stadium	Pontiac Silverdome
Location	Pontiac, Michigan
MVP	Stan Gelbaugh, QB, Maryland
Referee	Don Baur (MAC)
Attendance	51,858
United States TV coverage
Network	Mizlou, USA Network
Announcers	Ray Lane and Jim Brandstatter

Although it was only the second edition, the bowl folded after this game when the Cherry Bowl committee found it was more than $2,000,000 over budget. This ended postseason college football in Detroit until 1997, when the Motor City Bowl launched and the MAC Championship Game was first played on a neutral site.

Scoring summary

First quarter

• Syracuse – McAulay 26, field goal
• Maryland – Gelbaugh 4, run (kick failed)

Second quarter

• Syracuse -Drummond 10, run (McAulay kick)
• Maryland -Knight 3, pass from Gelbaugh (Badajnek run)
• Maryland -Tye 8, fumble recovery (Plocki kick)
• Maryland -Blount 20, run (Plocki kick)

Third quarter

• Maryland – Abdur-Ra’oof 6, pass from Gelbaugh (Plocki kick)
• Syracuse – McPherson 17, run (Schwedes from McPherson)

Statistics

Statistics	Syracuse	Maryland
First downs	28	22
Rushing yards	241	244
Passing yards	204	223
Total yards	445	467
Interceptions	1	3
Punts–average	1/52.0	3/38.7
Fumbles–lost	3/2	0/0
Penalties–yards	3/26	5/54