Maryland at Boston College
Written by Matthew Martz - Google +
The Terps are coming off of a bone crushing 31-7 loss to Clemson and will now do battle with the Boston College Eagles on Saturday October 23rd at Alumni Stadium. Game time is 1 PM ET. Last season when the teams met, BC walked away with the win, 19-17 in College Park.
Our most recent odds show the Eagles -4 over the Terps with a total of 41 ½ points.
Clemson’s Chandler Catanzaro started the scoring with a 42-yard field goal in the 1st quarter, but Maryland responded in the second with its only scoring of the game; Danny O’Brien issued a 4-yard pass to Da’Rel Scott, and a Travis Baltz kick made the score 7-3. Clemson took over from there, with Andre Ellington’s 87 yard kickoff return for score setting the pace the rest of the way.
The Terps had ample opportunity, out-gaining the Tigers 350 to 213 yards, and holding possession nearly equally, but three turnovers did them in. Ellington and Kyle Parker paced the ground attack combining for 26 carries and 82 yards. Clemson kept the Terps’ secondary on their toes moving the ball around as six receivers caught eight passes for 119 air yards though none scored.
For the season Maryland has a 4-2 record, 1-1 in conference, to rank 3rd in the ACC. QB Danny O’Brien has completed 51.9 percent of his passes for six touchdowns and 801 yards. Overall the Terps rank 85th in passing with just over 185 per game; Torrey Smith has been the main recipient of those passes with 21 receptions for 460 yards and five touchdowns.
The team is a little better on the ground, averaging 134.8 per game to rank 80th. Davin Meggett and Da’rel Scott have combined for 114 carries and 631 yards while scoring an even three touchdowns a piece. The team can score big, with 62 points against Morgan State and 42 against Florida International as proof.
The offense is 63rd with 27.7 points, and on the defensive side its 32th with 20.5 points against. That number is a little lower than it should be because it limited Morgan State to only three. Take that game out of the equation and the Terps have been outscored 95-122.
In the meantime, Boston College is coming off its own loss, 24-19 against Florida State. BC open the scoring in the first quarter with a pair of field goals from Nate Freese, bringing the score to 6-0. Lonnie Pryor than scored on a 3-yard pass from Christian Ponder to even it, and a Dustin Hopkins kick gave Florida State the lead 7-6.
Boston didn’t regain the lead until the 4th on another Freese kick, but with 10:50 on the clock, Burt Reed made a 42-yard run to seal the victory for FSU. Boston College was limited to 95 passing yards in the game and failed to capitalize on four FSU turnovers.
The Eagles fell to a 2-4 record with the loss, 0-3 in conference and a 6th place seat in the ACC. The team has lost four straight and in that span they have been outscored 118-49, including being shut out by Virginia Tech 19-0.
The offense has managed only 18.8 points per game to rank 104th, while passing for 192.3 (80th) and rushing for 103.3 a game (103rd). Meanwhile, the defense has allowed 25.2 points a game to rank 65th. That’s a bad combo; the offense has not managed 20 points once in the last four games. Things are looking dim in Boston.
Matt’s Free Prediction: Maryland +4– Regardless of whom Boston College plays, any team stands a chance at beating them. Match that with Maryland’s potentially explosive offense and you have a recipe for a Terps win. Meggett and Scott will feast on the Boston College defense in this one.
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