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The Iowa Hawkeyes (5-1, 3-3) travel to Byrd Stadium in College Park to meet conference newcomer Maryland (4-2, 3-3) on Saturday (Noon ET, ESPN2). The game marks the first ever football meeting between the schools and is Maryland’s homecoming game.
Iowa, on a three-game winning streak and winners of six of their last seven on the road, will be looking for their first 3-0 start in Big Ten play in five years. The Hawkeyes dominated Indiana at home last weekend, 45-29. Junior quarterback Jake Rudock returned from a hip injury suffered in the Hawkeyes’ Week 4 road win over Pittsburgh to throw for 210 yards and two touchdowns against Indiana. Sophomore C. J. Beathard has been a capable backup for Rudock and is considered a co-starter by the Iowa staff. Senior Mark Weisman, a physical, 240-pound short yardage hammer out of the Iowa backfield, leads the Hawkeyes with 349 rushing yards and eight rushing TDs.
Maryland, entering this game off a bye, was blasted by Ohio State at home the last time they dipped their toes in the Big Ten pool, 52-24. In order to prevent a similar fate this weekend, the Terrapins must maintain their impressive level of offensive output (34.7 points per game) and continue coming up with positive yardage “chunk” plays. The Terps’ offense has had 25 plays of 20 or more yards this season. Maryland senior QB C. J. Brown is a dual threat under center, with seven TD passes on the year and five rushing TDs. Brown, however, has been less than efficient in the passing game, completing only 57 percent of his attempts and tossing four interceptions through six games. Maryland head coach Randy Edsall pulled Brown from the Ohio State game down the stretch in favor of junior Caleb Rowe who is more of a pure passer. Brown is expected to start against Iowa, but Rowe will very likely see some playing time, particularly if the Terps have trouble moving the football early on against the Hawkeyes. Whether or not Maryland, a 4.5-point home favorite, can move the chains through the air against an Iowa pass defense that is the best in the conference (94 passing yards allowed per game) will go a long way toward deciding this game.
Iowa-Maryland will be a game of contrasts. Iowa’s defense is stronger than Maryland’s, but their offense is not as explosive. The Maryland defense, while surrendering 451 yards per game, is nevertheless better overall and much tougher to score on than the Indiana defense that Iowa faced a week ago; and the fact that Indiana lost starting quarterback Nate Sudfeld in the second quarter of the Iowa game cannot be discounted when evaluating that result. Maryland, on the other hand, throttled Indiana 37-15 on the road two weeks ago in a game that Sudfeld took every snap for the Hoosiers.
This game will undoubtedly be a tight one that could very well come down to special teams play, an area where the home team excels. Maryland cornerback William Likely is averaging 22 yards per punt return, fifth nationally, and kicker Brad Craddock has connected on his last 17 field goal attempts including a 57-yarder against Ohio State. Both of those Terrapins will figure large in this one that should go down to the wire.
Prediction: Maryland 27 – Iowa 24
Maryland win probability: 57 percent
Maryland cover probability: 46 percent
Chris Dezelan is a college football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dezelan, “Like” him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
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