College Football Game Lines – Maryland Tries To Right The Ship

Two teams that just lost in very disappointing fashion on the college football game lines will try to change their fortunes this week, as Florida International visits Maryland.  

Florida International Golden Panthers @ Maryland Terrapins 
Saturday, September 25th – 12:05 PM ET 
Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD 
Broadcast: ESPNU 
College Football Game Lines: Florida International +12, Maryland -12 
Total: 46.5

This is a strange pairing of unheralded football programs on Saturday afternoon in College Park, Maryland. 

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On one side of the Byrd Stadium field will stand the Florida International Golden Panthers, a team that has flummoxed opposing offenses on BCS conference teams, yet has walked away with an 0-2 record and an endless supply of "what-if" lamentations. On the other edge of the field, the Maryland Terrapins will take to the gridiron with a 2-1 record despite getting undressed last weekend at West Virginia and getting smoked for more than 400 rushing yards by the Navy Midshipmen in week one. 

College Football Game Lines: What Florida International Has To Do To Win 

Florida International has played above its pay grade to start 2010. Coach Mario Cristobal’s crew has tackled Rutgers and Texas A&M instead of playing teams from the Mid-American Conference or, far worse, from the Football Championship Subdivision. Against both of those teams – who come from talent-rich areas in the United States (New Jersey and Texas) – FIU displayed a dogged defense which generated copious amounts of turnovers.  
Against Rutgers, the Golden Panthers secured three takeaways, a big reason why they were able to hold the Scarlet Knights under 20 points. A week later against A&M in College Station, Florida International swiped five turnovers from the Aggies, registering four takeaways on interceptions against Jerrod Johnson, one of the more athletically imposing quarterbacks in the country. With eight defensive takeaways in its first two games, Florida International had to feel really good about its chances to split those games at the very least and possibly notch a sweep. 
 
Yet, all the Golden Panthers have to show for their double dose of determined defense is an 0-2 mark. FIU just couldn’t generate points in either one of those games, given all the turnovers its defense was able to create. Quarterback Wesley Carroll completed under 50 percent of his passes in those two losses. He needs to be sharp this Saturday if FIU is to have any chance against Maryland. 

College Football Game Lines: What Maryland Has To Do To Win

Maryland – though the proud owner of a justified win over Navy this season – is also mired in uncertainty because it doesn’t know what to make of itself. Coach Ralph Friedgen’s team excelled in the 17-14 win over Navy on Sept. 6, but then collapsed in a deceptively decisive 31-17 loss to West Virginia. The Terps fell behind 28-0 before mounting a short-lived rally to make the score somewhat respectable… but only somewhat.

There’s a good version of Maryland and a bad one. The good version creates turnovers on defense and uses quarterback Jamarr Robinson as a running threat who can get outside the perimeter against a slow defense. The bad version gets shoved around in the trenches and gets shredded in the secondary by opposing quarterbacks. The good Maryland needs to re-emerge this weekend.

Handicapping The College Football Game Lines

The matchup doesn’t work for Florida International. Maryland’s pass defense is very suspect, but FIU doesn’t have the quarterback who can do a lot of damage against the Terps’ back line of defense. Wesley Carroll should not be trusted in this game; he won’t be able to lead the Golden Panthers to a road upset in ACC country. Take Maryland to cover the number. 

College Football Game Lines Pick: Maryland -12