In a little less than two months, the Maryland Terrapins will play their first game as a member of the Big Ten conference. With a new conference comes new opponents. Gone are the clashes with the likes of Florida State and Virginia. The Terps will now have to deal with teams like Michigan and Minnesota on a weekly basis.
Here are my predictions for each game of Maryland’s inaugural Big Ten season.
8/30 vs James Madison: Maryland should have no problem taking care of the Dukes in the home opener.
Score: 35-10, Terps
9/6 at South Florida: Though they only had two wins last year, the Bulls are not pushovers. Even with that, Maryland should be able to earn a win in Tampa.
Score: 23-13, Terps
9/13 vs West Virginia: After being embarrassed by the Terps to the tune of 37-0, payback will be on the minds of the boys from Morgantown. I have a feeling that this rivalry game will be close, but with the same result.
Score: 31-28, Terps
9/20 at Syracuse: Last season, the Orange came to Byrd Stadium and used the running of Jerome Smith (28 carries, 118 yards, 2 TDs) to knock off the Terps. Maryland should be able to put up more of a fight on this Saturday, but I think Syracuse will have more than enough on defense to win.
Score: 17-14, Orange
9/27 at Indiana: The Hoosiers will welcome the Terps to the Big Ten. The matchup seems to be pretty even as they are both “middle of the road,” when compared to the rest of the conference. That being said, I see the Terps celebrating with a win.
Score: 35-31, Terps
10/4 vs. Ohio State: It should be a packed house when the Buckeyes roll into town. While Terp fans will be hopeful and energetic, I do not see this one ending in their favor.
Score: 50-24, Buckeyes
10/18 vs. Iowa: After the bye, a meeting with the Hawkeyes awaits the Terps. With key pieces returning from last year’s eight win campaign, I think Iowa takes this one handily.
Score: 34-10, Hawkeyes
10/25 at Wisconsin: Two words come to mind for this contest: hostile environment. The Terps will leave the friendly confines of Byrd Stadium for the craziness that lies within Camp Randall. On the field, I think that Wisconsin’s rushing attack will be more than what the Terps can handle.
Score: 35-21, Badgers
11/1 at Penn State: Remember the hostile environment I mentioned from Wisconsin? Well, this one is no different. Penn State is coming off of an eight win season. However, they do not have many of their most productive pieces from last year (Zwinak for instance). If Maryland can capitalize on the Nittany Lion’s somewhat inconsistent offense, I believe that they will leave Happy Valley victorious.
Score: 23-17, Terps
11/15 vs. Michigan State: When the Terps suit up to play Sparty, they had better be prepared to stop Jeremy Langford and the rest of the MSU rushing attack. They were strong against the run last year, so it will be interesting to see if they can repeat that success here. Overall, although the Terps have fire power on offense, I think Michigan State’s experience denies them the upset.
Score 24-21, Spartans
11/22 at Michigan: While “The Big House” may be daunting, I believe tat Maryland holds the advantage here. Last season, outside of a handful of games, the Wolverine defense had some serious struggles. If those struggles continue into this seaon, I expect Maryland to earn a huge road win.
Score: 35-24, Terps
11/29 vs Rutgers: While Rutgers did play in the Pinstripe Bowl last year, similar to Maryland, they did not beat many good teams to get there. With Maryland (on paper) being the better team, and with it being senior day, I think the Terps finish the regular season on a high note.
Score: 28-10, Terps
Final Record: 7-5 (4-4 in the Big Ten)
So there you have it Maryland fans! It will not be an easy foray into the Big Ten, but the Terps should still be bowl eligible by seasons end. If you disagree with a prediction, feel free to say so!
As we don’t know who will be hurt or who may be fired (Edsall?), I could be wrong on many of these. For now, these are my picks and I’m looking forward to a great 2014 season!
