The Maryland Terrapins (7-6 SU, 5-8 ATS) look to have a strong straight winning season. They open up with Buffalo (4-8 SU, 3-8-1 ATS) at home on Saturday at 12pmET from College Park.
The Bulls struggled at the end of last season when they lost four straight to end the 2021 campaign. Second-year coach Maurice Linguist returns just three starters on offense, but the hope is that Rutgers transfer Cole Snyder can lift the team back to their winning ways.
Maryland returns 16 starters including Taulia Tagovailoa and one of the best wide receiving corps in the Big 10.
Buffalo averaged 28.8 points per game, which sounds like a lot, but that ranked just eighth in the MAC and 64th in the nation last season. They averaged 409 yards per game overall, but just 213.5 in the air. Snyder will take over from Matt Myers, who completed 54.4% of his passes for 703 yards with four INTs and five TDs. He also ran for 179 yards and four TDs, but will be replaced by Snyder, who completed 68% of his passes at Rutgers in limited playing time.
The Bulls will have to replace running back Dylan McDuffie (1,049yds, 11 TDs, 5.1ypc) is transferred to Georgia Tech. Enter Ron Cook Jr., who averaged 5.0 yards per carry as more of a change-of-pace back. He also caught 23 passes for 232 yards and a TD. The good news is that star receiver Quaian Williams is back after catching 64 passes for 835 yards last season.
Defensively, the Bulls struggled last season against the run, allowing 194.3 y ards per game (9th in MAC). That won't be a major issue in this game as their pass defense will be put to the task in this one. They allowed 221.2 passing yards per game, which ranked 5th in the MAC. The good news is that most of the starters do return on the defensive side, including Daymond Williams (6.5 sacs) to anchor the front four and All-MAC LB James Patterson (9.6 tackles per game). The secondary has several newcomers including junior CB Caleb Offord from Notre Dame and senior CB Elijah Blades from Florida and Texas A&M. Senior safety Jahmin Muse started 11 games at Boston College in 2020.