The Week 8 of the NCAAF season is giving us numerous exciting conference tilts, including this one in Maryland on Saturday, October 22, and here you can read the best Wildcats vs. Terrapins betting pick and odds.

Northwestern is desperate to avoid the sixth consecutive loss, but that will be hard to do when they take on Maryland at SECU Stadium. The Terrapins are -13.5 favorites on MyBookie Sportsbook, while the total is set at 52.5 points. These Big Ten rivals have met twice in the last five years, and Northwestern won both games.

Wildcats were destroyed by the Badgers at home

The Northwestern Wildcats (1-5, 2-4 ATS) suffered their fifth loss in a row and even fourth at home as they were dismantled 42-7 by the Wisconsin Badgers. That was the worst offensive and defensive display of the year for Northwestern, who allowed a season-high 42 and scored season-low seven points. The Wildcats needed more than three quarters to get on the scoreboard, while the Badgers dominated the yards (515-342) and first downs (26-18), and forced three turnovers while committing none on the other end.

Ryan Hilinski completed ten of 22 passes for 147 yards and two interceptions before Brendan Sullivan came in and completed 11 out of 17 for 114 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Tyus III caught that lone TD pass for the Wildcats in this heavy defeat, while Bryce Kirtz and Evan Hull combined for 128 yards on six receptions. The run offense didn’t work; Northwestern had 79 yards on 27 carries. On defense, Garnett Hollis Jr. led all the players with nine tackles.

QB Hilinski is experiencing concussion-like symptoms, and it is unknown if he will be cleared in time for Saturday’s matchup against Maryland.

Terrapins avoided an upset against the Hoosiers

The Maryland Terrapins (5-2, 4-3 ATS) responded to a narrow home loss to the Purdue Boilermakers with a 38-33 road victory over the Indiana Hoosiers. It was tougher than expected for the Terrapins, who needed to score a couple of 4th quarter touchdowns to seal a W. Still, they deserved to win as they were better in almost every segment, especially on defense; Maryland didn’t commit a single turnover, and forced three.

Taulia Tagovailoa completed 25 of 39 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns, but was carted off the field with a knee injury and didn’t return. His deputy, Billy Edwards Jr, misplaced all three of his pass attempts but did score a crucial rushing TD in the fourth quarter. Roman Hemby led all the runners with 107 yards and a TD on 17 carries, while CJ Dippre and Dontay Demus Jr. caught touchdown passes from Tagovailoa. Ahmad McCullough and Fa’Najae Gotay registered six tackles apiece as they led the Terrapins on defense.

QB Tagovailoa is questionable to feature on Saturday against Northwestern.

Trends:

Northwestern:

  • 1-4 ATS in the last five games overall
  • 1-5 ATS in the last six road games
  • 2-6 ATS in the last eight vs. a team with a winning record

Maryland:

  • 4-1 ATS in the last five games following a straight-up win
  • 7-3 ATS in the last ten vs. a team with a losing record

Northwestern Wildcats vs. Maryland Terrapins Pick  

A lot will depend on Taulia Tagovailoa’s availability, but for what is worth, he is still listed as a starting QB on Maryland’s depth chart for this week. The Terrapins are scoring almost as twice as many points as the Wildcats on average (34.4 ppg), while the home team’s defense is also better as it allows 24.1 ppg opposite Northwestern’s 27.7 ppg. The Wildcats’ offense is not working of late; they failed to score more than 14 points in the previous three games, so I don’t think the Terrapins will have problems beating the visitors on Saturday.

Pick: Take the Terrapins at -13.5 (-110)

The Total

Because of Northwestern’s recent offensive struggles, I am going with a low-scoring affair here. Maryland doesn’t have such problems as they scored at least 27 points in every game this season, but the Wildcats scored just seven in each of the last two games. Under is 4-1 in the Wildcats’ last five games overall; Under is 4-1 in Northwestern’s previous five vs. a team with a winning record, while Under is 6-2 in the Terrapins’ last eight home games vs. a team with a losing road record.

Pick: Go Under 52.5 points (-110)