The Maryland Terrapins are the NCAA football betting favorites when they visit the Florida International University Panthers at FIU Stadium in Miami on Friday, September 9th. The odds for people who would like to place an NCAA football bet are:
Maryland -10½ (-110) -390
Florida Intl +10½ (-110) +320
The Terrapins began their regular season with a win over the Howard Bison 52-13, on Thursday, September 1st – which bodes well for new head coach D.J. Durkin. Starting QB Perry Hills completed 14 of 19 attempted passes for 126 yards, and running back Trey Edmunds scored two TDs in the first quarter. Durkin was Michigan’s defensive coordinator and his prowess in that area showed, as Maryland allowed only 53 first-half yards. The Bison were never anything other than NCAA football betting underdogs, so all things considered it could be said it was a nice warm-up for when Maryland begins Big Ten play next month.
The FIU Panthers, on the other hand, lost their regular season opener 13-34 against the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday, September 1st. The Panthers showed that they can hold their own versus Big Ten big boys. Unfortunately, moral victories do not win championships. Maryland will give it another shot at beating a Big Ten team when they host the Terrapins, though if NCAA football betting odds are anything to go by – and they should – it will be an uphill battle.
RB Alex Gardner was limited to 23 yards on 10 carries and reserve Anthony Jones only hand two carries for three yards. Needless to say, the running game never really took off. The passing was not much to write home about, either. QB Alex McGough threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for TDs – the first time that the Hoosiers return two interceptions for touchdowns in half a century. McGough went 23 of 46 passes for 263 yards.
On the plus side, the Panthers may have found a deep threat in true freshman wide receiver Stantley Thomas of Charlotte High in Punta Gorda, who had three receptions for 91 yards versus Indiana. That may not sound like much, but it was more the quality on the plays rather than the quantity. Thomas caught 59 passes for 1,105 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior at Charlotte High leading the Fightin’ Tarpons to a 12-1 record and a spot in the regional finals.
FIU will be looking to Thomas to help branch out their offense when they face the Terrapins. None of McGough’s targets – including tight end Jonnu Smith, wide receiver Thomas Owens, and the aforementioned Gardner – seem to possess the skills to be as much of a deep threat as Thomas.
FIU has not played Maryland since the Terrapins defeated the Panthers 43-10 on August 31st, 2013 at Byrd Stadium in College Park. And FIU has not beaten Maryland since, well, never. They have never defeated Maryland in four games since 2006. Could the outcome be different this time? We will find out about that soon enough.