Opening Line: Maryland Favored By Two Scores Against Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's Big Ten play the rest of the way for Indiana, and that starts Saturday at Maryland.
The Hoosiers enter this game as 14.5-point underdogs, and the over/under is set at 50.5 points, according to the SI Sportsbook on Tuesday morning. The Indiana moneyline, which represents its odds to win the game, is set at plus-425. The Maryland moneyline is minus-699.
Indiana is 3-1 against the spread this season. As underdogs, the Hoosiers covered the 30-point spread against Ohio State in Week 1 and covered the 10-point spread against Louisville in Week 3. As the favorite, Indiana covered the 31-point spread against Indiana State in Week 2, but did not cover the 17-point spread against Akron last week.
Indiana holds a 2-2 record overall heading into this matchup, with a 41-7 win over Indiana State and a 29-27 win over Akron in four overtimes. The Hoosiers suffered a 23-3 loss at home to Ohio State in the season opener and a 21-14 loss to Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Most recently, Indiana's win over Akron came with more concern than optimism. Indiana had plenty of chances to put the game away, but the offense fizzled out with four three-and-out possessions in the second half. Akron running back Lorenzo Lingard tied the game with a 71-yard touchdown run late in the fourth, but kicker Dante Jackson missed a 32-yard field goal that would have won the game. Ultimately, Indiana did just enough to escape with the win in four overtimes, but there's plenty for coach Tom Allen to fix ahead of Saturday's game.
On the other sideline, Maryland has looked like a well-oiled machine through four weeks. Coach Mike Locksley and the Terrapins have won each of their first four games by 18 or more points, including a 38-6 win over Towson, a 38-20 win over Charlotte, a 42-14 win over Virginia and a 31-9 win over Michigan State.
Maryland leads the Big Ten in yards per game at 450.5 and is second with 37.3 points per game. Defensively, Maryland is tied for the Big Ten lead with seven interceptions and ranks 12th in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in points allowed per game at 12.3.
It's important to recognize that Maryland opponents hold a combined 4-12 record with wins over Morgan State, South Carolina State, Central Michigan and Richmond, so some of these numbers might be inflated due to playing far-inferior competition.
But regardless, the Hoosiers have a major challenge on their hands Saturday against veteran quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and the Terrapins.
Related stories on Indiana football
- Q&A WITH MARYLAND REPORTER: Looking ahead to Indiana football's next game at Maryland, we talked with Ahmed Ghafir, the publisher of InsideTheBlackAndGold.net, a website covering Maryland football, basketball and recruiting news. Here's our conversation. CLICK HERE
- WHAT IS INDIANA'S OFFENSIVE IDENTITY?: Offensive coordinator Walt Bell said Monday that Indiana's offensive identity is being a run-first team, which is concerning, given various statistics that say Indiana has one of the worst run games in the country. CLICK HERE
- IU-AKRON PODCAST RECAP: Coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers barely survived on Saturday against Akron, and in retrospect, IU probably should have lost. On this episode of the Hoosier Roundtable Podcast, HoosiersNow.com reporters Daniel Olinger and Jack Ankony recap everything that happened in a very demoralizing game that Indiana won 29-27 in four overtimes. CLICK HERE
- STOCK UP, STOCK DOWN: The Indiana football team survived by the skin of its teeth on Saturday, escaping Memorial Stadium with a 29-27, four-overtime win against a below average MAC team in Akron. Here are the very few things IU fans can feel better about after the Week 4 game, and the many, many things that should have fans concerned heading into Week 5. CLICK HERE
