This should be a whole bunch of fun. Bowling Green lost to Tennessee last week, but it put up a massive number on the board with lots of passing and lots off offense in the 59-30 shootout. Maryland got pushed by Richmond, but pulled away for a 50-21 win. This is the first ever meeting between the two teams.

Below we dive into the Maryland vs. Bowling Green prediction and full game preview.

Maryland vs. Bowling Green Prediction & Preview

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Broadcast

Date: Saturday, September 12
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Network: BTN

Why You Need To Care

Is Bowling Green one of the MAC superstars again? The 2013 title winner and with another appearance last year, it’s a powerhouse in the conference with the offense and the talent to be more than just a thorn in the side of a Power Five team. This is the second road game in a rough start with four of the first five games away from home, but it’s a good enough team to pull off the upset.

Maryland is still undergoing an overhaul. It’s changing up its defensive style, and it’s trying to fill in new receivers, but it’s a sneaky-good team with the upside to rise up in a Big Ten East that looked mediocre – outside of Ohio State and Michigan State, of course – in Week One. There’s still tune-up time with South Florida next week before going to West Virginia and then starting out the Big Ten season with Michigan, but a loss to Bowling Green would be a big, big problem considering the nasty schedule coming.

Why Bowling Green Will Win

The Terrapin secondary looked vulnerable against Richmond. It wasn’t a bad overall performance from the defense, but the pass defense got pushed around a little bit early on and gave up a few too many midrange throws. The defensive backs are terrific – this will be a strong group as the year goes on – but it allowed 220 yards to the Spiders, and now rolls in a Bowling Green offense that hung up 424 yards and two touchdowns on Tennessee, highlighted by lots and lots of downfield plays.

Why Maryland Will Win

The Bowling Green run defense had a very long, very painful day against Tennessee giving up 399 yards, allowed both top running backs to hit the 100-yard mark, and allowed QB Joshua Dobbs to run free for almost 90 yards. Maryland beat Richmond on the ground, with Brandon Ross coming up with a terrific 150-yard, one score day, but he wasn’t alone with three backs going for 74 yards or more and QB Perry Hills running a bit. After tearing off 341 yards, the Terps might be able to do even more against the soft Falcon line.

Player Who Matters

The Bowling Green offense will work, but to have any shot at winning, the defense has to get to the Terp ground game before it gets going. For all the problems the run defense had, the linebacking corps came up with several stops with Austin Valdez making 13 stops and Trenton Green 12. The D got behind the line on a regular basis, but it has to make more stops at the point of attack.

What’s Going To Happen?

Bowling Green is going to make this scary. Maryland will get the passing game going more than it did against Richmond, but the running game will keep the Falcon offense off the field just enough to survive. The Terps will have the ball for almost 35 minutes – that’ll be the difference.

Maryland vs. Bowling Green Score Prediction

Without further ado, the Maryland vs. Bowling Green prediction is …

Final Score: Maryland 37, Bowling Green 30

MORE: Week 1 College Football Bowl Projections