Maryland put up an awful lot of points last week, against Howard. Throw that one out. They opened the season at home against WVU and the teams combined for a 31 point first quarter, then settled down and scored 23 over the next three quarters and that's the exact type of game I expect here. Maryland's defense held WVU to 325 yards and while people think offense when they think Terps, their defense is better than advertised. Last year they only played five games, and only one of them exceeded this number. This is also their first road game. It's already Illinois' third game, which I think is a big deal, especially given that Maryland has only played one FBS game. And it would behoove Illinois to play a lower scoring game, or not get into a shootout as they did with UTSA. Both teams have averaged less than four yards per rush, ad the the Terps held WVU to only 2.7 yards per rush. I'd be lying if I weren't leery of the Illini pass defense, but the line only being 7ish says this might be closer than expected, and if true, cannot see this going over.

09/17/2021 6:28 AM