#345 ASA PLAY ON 8* Maryland +4.5 over Minnesota, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET - The Terps had a bye last week and they needed it. They were rolled the previous 2 weeks by Iowa & Ohio State, two top 5 teams at the time. Those blowout losses are giving us some value here on the Terps as they regrouped over the last 2 weeks and will play well here. Their loss vs Iowa was a game Maryland had 7 turnovers which big contributor to the final score. Two weeks ago they were simply overwhelmed @ OSU, a team that is playing as well as anyone in the country right now. Prior to those 2 losses, the Terps were 4-0. This Saturday they take a big step down in competition as they face Minnesota. The Gophers are off a home win over Nebraska but this offense has been struggling. Last week they looked good in the first half coming off their bye week, but the 2nd half was telling for the Minnesota offense as they fell back into struggle mode. They were held scoreless for much of the 2nd half with the defense getting a safety with just over 4:00 remaining and the offense getting a late TD with just over 2:00 left in the game. Their offense averaged less than 5 YPP in the 2nd half and had only one drive of more than 5 plays. Prior to last week the Gophs offense was outright poor getting held to 300 yards or less in 3 of their previous 4 games including games vs MAC opponents Miami OH and Bowling Green. They lost at home vs BG and nearly lost to Miami OH. The Gophers are down their top 2 RB’s who are out for the season. Maryland is banged up at WR but they are fairly deep at that position. These 2 have faced similar strength of schedule to date and Maryland is +128 YPG and +0.8 YPP – Minnesota is +25 YPG and +0.2 YPP. We feel Minnesota is definitely a step down from last year’s team and Maryland is better this season. When then met last year Maryland won by 1-point but outgained the Gophers by 225 yards. Too many points here so we grab Maryland.