Maryland Terrapins (2-0) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (1-2)
September 17, 2021 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Illinois Fighting Illini +10.5 / Maryland Terrapins -10.5; Over/Under: 58.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Illinois Fighting Illini meet the Maryland Terrapins in a Big Ten conference college football matchup from Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
The Maryland Terrapins come into this game looking to build on their 2-0 start to the year after a 62-0 romp over Howard last time out. Taulia Tagovailoa has thrown for 606 yards and 6 touchdowns on 76.2% passing while Tayon Fleet-Davis leads the Terps in rushing with 189 rushing yards. Dontay Demus Jr. and Rakim Jarrett each have a team-high 12 catches and a pair of touchdowns, with Demus Jr. leading the Terrapins with 261 receiving yards while Jarrett had 189 yards. On defense, Tarheeb Still leads the Terps with 10 total tackles including 7 solo tackles and a sack while Sam Okuayinoku and Deshawn Holt each have a pair of sacks on the year.
The Illinois Fighting Illini will look to bounce back from a 42-14 loss to Virginia that sent the team to 1-2 on the year. Artur Sitkowski has thrown for 611 yards, 6 touchdowns and an interception on 56.9% passing while Mike Epstein has 107 rushing yards and a score. Isaiah Williams had 19 catches for 183 receiving yards and a touchdown while Deuce Spann had 109 recivingyards and a pair of touchdown catches, the same amount of TD grabs as Daniel Barker. Defensively, Devon Witherspoon leads the Illini with 20 total tackles and 18 solo tackles while Tony Adams has 17 solo and 19 total tackles and Kerby Joseph has Illinois’ lone interception this season.
Maryland is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record and 7-19 ATS in their last 26 road games while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 conference games. Illinois is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a loss.
I get that these are two teams that have efficient QB play and have some dangerous threats to put points on the board, but I just don’t know how we get a total close to 60 in this one. This just feels like a game that hangs around in the low-50s or even high 40s, something like a 28-21 kind of game. Give me the under here in what I think ends up being more of a defensive battle than one would think.
