Maryland at Oregon State

Maryland faces Oregon State in the Emerald Bowl. Maryland eeked out a Bowl bid with a 6-6 record. Most of what they have done well this year has been on the defensive side of the ball. They are very balanced, bringing in the the 43rd ranked defense in the country that is 48th vs the pass and 46th vs the run. Oregon State finished strong winning six of their last seven. It must be noted however that this team showed lots of struggles against good stop units. They scored 3 vs. USC, 14 vs. a healthy UCLA and 3 at Cincinnati. Three of their four losses came by over 20 points, so the consistency truly has been lacking. Maryland has a huge offensive line and it showed itself when they exposed a quick, but small Rutgers team. They will have to go to the air to win this one, as Oregon State is big against the run, but suffers defending the pass. Maryland's passing offense is good, having completed over 65% of its passing attempts this season, and the game plan is surely going to be leaning that way. Oregon State has suffered against teams willing to throw a lot. Not too many teams have taken this Maryland team out easily, as four of the losses have been by one possession. We like them to stay in this one and keep the final down to one possession, so the points look good to us.