Game Four Preview: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Maryland Terrapins

Who, Where, When: The Indiana Hoosiers take on the Maryland Terrapins this Saturday at 1:30pm. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, with Matt Devlin and Jim Miller on the call, getting help from Jeremiah Johnson on the sideline. This will be the third ever meeting between Indiana and Maryland on the gridiron, with the Hoosiers owning both previous wins.

Important Stats from an Important Win: Tevin Coleman continued his excellence with yet another 100+ yard rushing game, including a rushing touchdown in his 12th straight game. Freshman Tegray Scales had five tackles and a sack against Mizzou, earning him co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The IU defense as a whole held Missouri two touchdowns below their season average, and gave up only one red zone touchdown in three trips. The win was Indiana's first over a top 20 team since 2006 (#15 Iowa) and first on the road since 1987 (#9 Ohio State).

Talking Testudo: The mascot of Maryland is a diamondback terrapin, commemorated outside many of the university's athletic arenas by a statue named Testudo. The original Testudo statue has been stolen and or vandalized quite a few times, but presently sits outside McKeldin Library. Rubbing his nose is said to bring good luck, which is why Testudo's bronze nose has become shiny over the years.

Notable Maryland Alumni: Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld), Jim Henson (creator of the Muppets), Sergey Brin (co-founder, Google), Connie Chung (news anchor), Tim Kurkjian (ESPN analyst), Scott Van Pelt (anchor for ESPN), Boomer Esiason (former NFL QB, current broadcaster), Maurice Edu (MLS Player), Fred Funk (pro golfer), and Travis Pastrana (extreme sports competitor)

Maryland Notes, courtesy of OTE's own DJ Carver: Maryland's season, sort of like Indiana's, hasn't got off the way we wanted it to but we have still ended up where we expected: 3-1 from the OOC.  Many of us, obviously, thought 4-0 was possible but knew that WVU was not going to be a given.  Maryland's starting QB, 6th year senior CJ Brown, has gotten off to a rocky start at QB with a ton of inaccuracy, but he always seems to hit his star WRs for a big play or two in the game that keeps Maryland's offense going at a rate of ~37ppg.  WR Marcus Leak has been somewhat of a surprise with how fast he has assimilated to the offense after taking a year away from football, but has provided Maryland with yet another down the field threat, topping it off with a ridiculous catch against Syracuse where the ball looked like it was picked until he ripped it from the defenders hands.

Predictions:

DJ: The defense is taking the injury front this year with the front seven banged up, and has given up a ton of yards, but they've held together when it mattered.  Against Indiana's high powered offense?  I hope we aren't in for another WVU first half repeat.  I'm going to be a homer here and say Maryland wins this 64-52 42-38 in a shootout.

C4B: There's really two ways this could play out for Indiana. 1) The success of beating Mizzou proves too much for the Hoosiers to deal with, and they can't hang with Maryland, or 2) The Hoosiers carry the momentum of knocking off a good SEC team into this game, play a solid game, and extend their winning streak to two. I really hope it's the latter. My prediction: Indiana wins 42-34.

Next week: Indiana has one last non-conference game against the Mean Green of North Texas.