1895 Maryland Aggies football team

A brief hiatus
In 1895, Maryland Agricultural, a land-grant school with a military curriculum requirement, had a new commandant of cadets take office. Lieutenant Clough Overton, who opposed football at the university, cut funding for equipment and instituted strict rules limiting practice time. Instead of accepting this serious disadvantage against their opponents, the players declined to field a football team for the season.

The following season, there was a renewal of football at Maryland. Fullback Grenville Lewis was elected as team captain and head coach. He instituted a strict physical training regimen involving calisthenics and long-distance running, and banned smoking, drinking, and eating pie during the football season. This was unpopular with the team, but Lewis was embraced by the students and faculty. In the game to decide the state championship, Maryland Agricultural faced Maryland-Baltimore. Late in the scoreless game, the Aggies pushed to their opponents' two-yard line. With darkness approaching and Maryland Agricultural having difficulty scoring, the referee called the game. It became clear that Maryland-Baltimore had sneaked three extra players onto the field, but the referee refused to award the Aggies the win. Two days later, the Maryland–Baltimore players voted to forfeit the game, and with it the championship, to Maryland Agricultural.

In 1897, Maryland faced Johns Hopkins for the first time since the Aggies' inaugural season. Hopkins beat Maryland handily, 30–6, and the Aggies went on to lose their next three games to finish the year with a 2–4 mark. The 1898 season saw the Aggies finish 2–5–1 and in 1899, the team canceled the remainder of its season after accumulating a 1–4 record. Maryland saw a marginal improvement to 3–4–1 in 1900, but then fell to a 1–7 season in 1901.