Alex Smart
FREE PICK: Maryland +15
The Maryland Terrapins enter into this home game as two touch down underdogs to the California Bears. The game has steamed up from an opening line of -11.5, thanks to over whelming amount of public money and a few whales rolling in on the side the the away team.
The Bears thanks to back to back wins, against Washington State and Michigan State, behind an offense that scored a combined 102 points, look like an obvious square choice to cruise to another one sided victory, against a Maryland program that has has come out of the gate slowly.
The Terrapins used very little effort, doing just enough to get a 14-7 win against Delaware in their opening contest, before putting forward a unmotivated performance against Sun Belt opponent Middle Tennessee State last week, suffering a 21-14 road set back.
I know the Terps looked bad last week, but Im betting they were looking ahead to this game and probably over looking and under estimating their opposition.
With that said, it must be noted that Maryland is a much stronger team than many may think, as they have 9 returning starters back on offense, and also have a viable rushing attack behind the legs of DaRel Scott(320 Yds), who currently ranks 4th in the nation.
With that said, I expect the Terps will use their ground attack a lot today, in an attempt to slow this game down. On the defensive side of the ball, the Terps are a formidable foe, and were ranked 24th in points allowed last season. Maryland showed how staunch they can be, when they held their first opponent Delaware scoreless for 55 minutes, before falling asleep at the wheel last week. I expect they will be wide awake this time around and provide California's explosive offense with a very stiff test.
Final notes & Key Trends: California is just 10-22 ATS L/32 games as road favorites.
Projected Score: California 24 Maryland 21
FREE PICK: Maryland +15
The Maryland Terrapins enter into this home game as two touch down underdogs to the California Bears. The game has steamed up from an opening line of -11.5, thanks to over whelming amount of public money and a few whales rolling in on the side the the away team.
The Bears thanks to back to back wins, against Washington State and Michigan State, behind an offense that scored a combined 102 points, look like an obvious square choice to cruise to another one sided victory, against a Maryland program that has has come out of the gate slowly.
The Terrapins used very little effort, doing just enough to get a 14-7 win against Delaware in their opening contest, before putting forward a unmotivated performance against Sun Belt opponent Middle Tennessee State last week, suffering a 21-14 road set back.
I know the Terps looked bad last week, but Im betting they were looking ahead to this game and probably over looking and under estimating their opposition.
With that said, it must be noted that Maryland is a much stronger team than many may think, as they have 9 returning starters back on offense, and also have a viable rushing attack behind the legs of DaRel Scott(320 Yds), who currently ranks 4th in the nation.
With that said, I expect the Terps will use their ground attack a lot today, in an attempt to slow this game down. On the defensive side of the ball, the Terps are a formidable foe, and were ranked 24th in points allowed last season. Maryland showed how staunch they can be, when they held their first opponent Delaware scoreless for 55 minutes, before falling asleep at the wheel last week. I expect they will be wide awake this time around and provide California's explosive offense with a very stiff test.
Final notes & Key Trends: California is just 10-22 ATS L/32 games as road favorites.
Projected Score: California 24 Maryland 21
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