With the league switching to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016, Big Ten teams will be knocking off each other earlier in the season. He was guilty of three interceptions and three fumbles in his first start, a win over South Florida in Week 2, before getting picked off four times and being pulled at West Virginia. De’Veon Smith rushed for 125 yards and one touchdown in 16 attempts. They ran for 292 yards against Maryland last season and should be able to have similar success on Saturday afternoon.
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Michigan (minus 14.5) at Maryland: The Terps are a disaster (see above) – and they might need disaster relief if Hurricane Joaquin hits.
The Big Ten Network will broadcast Saturday’s game from Maryland, one of two that the network will air.
Also, follow our Michigan and Maryland school accounts, @MichiganonBTN and @MarylandonBTN, on Twitter as we’ll be tweeting out video of the teams going their drills on the field. They won’t be intimidated this year by a Taysom Hill-less offense that couldn’t score against Michigan, and a defense riddled by injuries. Michigan has thrived in limiting kickoff returns, ranking eighth nationally, and is average on punt coverage, but this is a different situation than the Wolverines have seen before.
The Wolverines broke through in the 36th minute off a botched clearance from the Terrapin defense. But that has nothing to do with defensive and special teams units that are fully capable of changing games on their own.
So far this season Chad is 3-1 picking the results of Michigan Football games.
“I have never been one to make too many judgments on anything in September”, said Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz, now in his 17th season. Jake Rudock will be looking to get through his second straight game without a turnover. Michigan is 82-25-2 in conference openers, including wins in 44 of last 47….
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Army (plus 26.5) at Penn State: If the sensational Saquon Barkley misses the game, how can anyone like the Nittany Lions to cover this beefy number? But the Wolverines still have to prove that they can win on the road, show that their running game can grind out a game and do what good teams do: bury lesser teams early.
