College Football Betting – Virginia Cavaliers at Maryland Terrapins
Virginia Cavaliers (2-3 SU, 3-1 ATS) at Maryland Terrapins (2-4 SU, 2-3 ATS)
Saturday, October 17 – 4 PM ET
Byrd Stadium, College Park, Maryland
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: VIRGINIA -3.5, Total 49.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
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VA has lost seven of its last nine games SU
VA has covered four of its last five road games
VA has lost five of its last seven road games SU
VA has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total
MD has lost four of its last six games SU
MD has won ten of its last 13 home games SU
Also…
VA has covered four of the last five meetings
VA has won nine of the last 13 meetings SU
Four of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total
MD has covered four of the last five meetings as the home team
This game pits two coaches against each other who have been on the hot seat this season. For Virginia’s Al Groh, he had an awful lot of grief as his team simply could not adapt to the new spread offense that had been installed, and they dropped games easily to FCS entry William & Mary and TCU. They have come alive to an extent since. First it was a difficult loss to Southern Miss that produced 312 yards through the air for strong-armed quarterback Jameel Sewell, then a nice defensive performance in a 16-3 win over North Carolina, in which Sewell had only 136 yards on 24 passes, and last week, a game where both the offense and defense came together to win in the football betting odds as the Cavs beat Indiana 47-7. Virginia had a total of 536 yards, 308 by Sewell.
Virginia is ranked in the nation’s top 25 in defense, and they have done a damn good job against the pass, allowing only 163 yards per contest and three touchdowns. At this point, Groh, the former head coach of the New York Jets, is probably feeling a little more at ease.
Maryland, coached by Ralph Friedgen, former offensive coordinator for Georgia Tech as well as the San Diego Chargers, could be in the process of wearing out his welcome in College Park. His Terps have been absolutely awful in two road games, getting blown out 52-13 by California in the season opener and then down 35-10 at the half to Wake Forest before scoring some garbage points to make the score look more respectable.
At home, the Terrapins have been taken to overtime by James Madison, lost to Middle Tennessee and were beaten by three touchdowns against Rutgers, before scoring an upset over Clemson. This is not the kind of consistency that is going to help Friedgen stick around. He presides over a poor defense that does not force mistakes (only three interceptions) and it appears that quarterback Chris Turner, who has not made great progress since last season, is not well protected (20 sacks allowed).
Da’Rel Scott, who dominated some games last year en route to 1133 yards rushing, has not even remotely approached those numbers, and now has a broken wrist. This offense is looking for answers.
That’s not a good formula against a team that looks like it is on the upswing. We’re going with Virginia, the 3.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
OUR PLAY: VIRGINIA -3.5 ***