QUICK LANE BOWL PREVIEW – MARYLAND vs BOSTON COLLEGE
MARYLAND 1 BOSTON COLLEGE (43.5)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Maryland -2.5 Sagarin ratings – Maryland -1.5
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Maryland 22.25 Boston College 21.25
The Game
It is not quite the same as the Bahamas, but Detroit in December is a pretty enticing spot to visit for all parties involved. Boston College and Maryland will both have to avoid the multitude of enjoyable attractions and focus on the game at hand.
The Eagles managed to eek into the bowl season with a couple of late season wins over Connecticut and Wake Forest. Maryland got their 6th win in the final game vs Rutgers.
The Match-Up
Maryland offense vs Boston College defense
Sadly, this is last time we get to mention 18th year senior QB Perry Hills who has injured every limb, joint and organ is his body, but looks to go out a winner in this bowl game. He is crafty and should be able to last at least a half provided he does not try to run the ball too often against the Boston College heavy hitters on defense. RB Ty Johnson will be the main man on offense as he really started to emerge late in the season. He finished up with 845 yards rushing and averaged almost 9 (!) yards per carry. The Terps only have one player with over 500 yards receiving (DJ Moore – 597).
Boston ranked very well statistically on defense (#8 FBS total defense) but were a very strange unit to figure out. They dominated weak offenses and got absolutely destroyed by decent ones. Maryland falls somewhere in-between, and maybe even toward the lower end of things, but you would think that Maryland can find some chinks in the armor during preparation for this game.
Boston College offense vs Maryland defense
MEGALOCKS fans in need of a research assignment need to help us find a Power 5 team that has ever made a bowl game with an offense this bad. QB? 51% completions. Leading rusher ? 463 yards. Leading receiver ? 391 yards. As noted earlier, the defense has done a good job of shutting down average offenses (read: Maryland), so the offense just needs to make a couple of big plays and pound away at the soft underbelly of the Maryland defense (#11 rush defense Big 10). QB Patrick “Baby Giraffe” Towles has been inconsistent this season but has come up with a couple of nice games.
Motivation / Intangibles
Maryland – First year HC DJ Durkin should have the guys ready to go. The Terps have not won a bowl game since the 2010 Military Bowl. GRADE – Good.
Boston College – The Eagles have lost 5 straight (!) bowl games and will be hungry to get a win over a beatable opponent. GRADE – Good.
MEGA BOWL BITES
Maryland was outscored 149-13 (!?) in a three-game stretch near the end of the season before beating Rutgers in the final week……TREND GUY will note that Boston College games are on a pretty good 26-8 L34 run to the under……Anyone know Matt Ryan’s phone number ?
Summary
The only way to go seems to be with the total. Some kind of under. Neither team is trustworthy against the number IMO.
Conclusion
Official play: None.
Best play on the game: Boston College TT under 21.5. Play down to 20. Small potatoes.
Underdog ML playable for small potatoes (Y,N) ?: NO. Total toss-up.