Maryland Terrapins vs UCLA Bruins Point Spread Picks

Both of these offenses were humming last week, with UCLA hanging 52 on Purdue in its Big Ten opener and Maryland getting torched for 35 points by Virginia Tech, the only real dent either defense has taken all year. Before that, these looked like two of the stingier units in the country: Maryland allowed just 14 combined points in its first two games, and UCLA locked down San Diego State after a shaky opener against Cal. Nico Iamaleava has already thrown multiple interceptions on limited volume for the Bruins, and a conference road trip like this one tends to get played tighter and more cautiously than a month of buy games against overmatched competition would suggest. Neither staff wants to hand the other short fields with a turnover, and that's the kind of game where the total comes back down to the field instead of the scoreboard. I'm on the UNDER this afternoon.

A funny thing happened to UCLA on its way to a 0-12 season. The Bruins wised up and fired overmatched coach DeShaun Foster after Week 3. During the last two weeks, the Bruins upset Penn State as a 25-point underdog and then destroyed Michigan State as a seven-point underdog. Yes, the Bruins are better under interim coach Tim Skipper. But now it is UCLA who is the overrated team and Maryland the underrated one. The Terrapins could be 6-0 if not for blowing a 20-point second-half lead against Washington in a 24-20 home loss and giving up a touchdown in the final 68 seconds to Nebraska in a 34-31 loss last week. Freshman quarterback Malik Washington has thrown 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions for the Terrapins. UCLA has a talented quarterback, too, in Nico Iamaleava. Maryland, however, leads the nation with 12 interceptions while the Bruins have yet to come up with a single takeaway. The Terrapins surrender just 16.8 points per game, which is 18th-best. UCLA is 103rd in scoring and 126th in run defense, so Maryland's running back should be able to put Washington in favorable passing situations. It's hard to believe the Bruins can produce a third straight "A" game, given their many limitations. Take Maryland on the moneyline.