Northern Illinois vs. Maryland
Two teams that had very different offensive performances in Week 1 come together for a Week 2 non-conference tilt, as Northern Illinois vs. Maryland serves as the later of the two games on Friday night. This is a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, while James Madison vs. Louisville goes at 7 p.m. ET.
Maryland may have found their QB of the future, while Northern Illinois had a rough offensive showing in their first game with new OC Quinn Sanders. But, the Huskies were stout defensively, much like they were last season, so we’ll see if they can keep this one close or give themselves a chance at another big upset in Week 2, though not as headline-grabbing as last year’s victory over Notre Dame.
How to Watch Northern Illinois vs. Maryland
Where: Big Ten Network
When: Friday, September 5, 7:30 p.m. ET
Northern Illinois vs. Maryland College Football Odds
Maryland -18 (-110) // Northern Illinois +18 (-110)
Total: 47.5 (-110/-110)
Odds from Circa Sports as of September 2, 6 p.m. PT; check out our Circa Betting Splits and DraftKings Betting Splits.
Northern Illinois vs. Maryland Game Preview
Northern Illinois
The Huskies mustered fewer than four yards per play in their first game of the season. A lot of teams struggled offensively, but the difference for NIU is that their struggles came against FCS Holy Cross. The Crusaders have been a competitive and competent team at the FCS ranks, but it still wasn’t the kind of performance that HC Thomas Hammock wanted in the first game with his new OC.
In fact, in the 19-17 win, seven of the Huskies’ points came via a kick return TD. This is a new offensive scheme under Sanders that is supposed to feature less running, more spread looks, and more balance, but the Huskies had 44 rush attempts compared to 24 pass attempts, as Josh Holst only threw for 101 yards with an interception. That won’t be good enough if the Huskies want to keep pace with Maryland.
NIU’s defense did only allow 10 points, as Holy Cross had a kick return house call of their own. The Huskies only allowed 3.95 yards per play to the Crusaders, who had just 2.5 yards per carry. Outside of a 46-yard catch, the Huskies really limited the explosives and that’s why they were able to pull out the win in a slugfest sort of game.
NIU was ninth in the nation in yards per play allowed last season, so they’ll be hoping for a similar level of performance from the defense this season. The loss of DC Nick Benedetto could prove to be big as the season goes along, as this will be the first big test for new DC Rob Harley. Harley is from the Mark Dantonio/Pat Narduzzi coaching tree and those are two extremely sharp defensive minds.
Maryland
The Terrapins pummeled a FBS foe, blowing out Florida Atlantic 39-7. The Owls were supposed to look a lot more interesting on offense this year with head coach Zach Kittley, but Maryland kept them to just 2.4 yards per carry. Also, while FAU had 277 passing yards, that happened on 62 attempts and 36 completions. In other words, the Terps kept nearly everything in front of them and didn’t give up many explosive plays.
For a middle-of-the-road defense last season to put forth a strong effort in Week 1 is obviously a good sign. Not that we’ll find out a ton about them against NIU, but this is a Terps team that doesn’t face Oregon, Ohio State, or Michigan in Big Ten play. That could open the door for them to make a little bit of noise if they take care of affairs as a favorite and find a couple of upsets.
It doesn’t hurt that Malik Washington shined. The freshman gunslinger had 258 yards and three touchdowns in his debut outing and didn’t get sacked at all. The Owls defense isn’t the most enthralling of data points – and this could be a much stiffer test against NIU – but it was still a data point that looked very promising.
Given that starter Billy Edwards Jr. and backup MJ Morris both left the program, Washington had an opportunity to win the job and clearly seized it. That being said, Maryland still had under five yards per play in that game and only scored six points in the second half after scoring 26 points in the second quarter. They also got on the board with a pick-six and only had two scoring drives of 60+ yards.
Northern Illinois vs. Maryland Prediction
Northern Illinois does feel like a far stronger opponent than FAU, who is going through a dramatic scheme change all the way around. NIU is obviously changing up their offense as well, and this could be the type of game where they lose 27-7 or something and fail to cover because they can’t score enough points. That’s why I’m looking more towards the Under here than a side play.
Pick: Under 47.5
