Maryland vs. Texas Spread Prediction
The Maryland Terps beat the Texas Longhorns 51-41 last year and have plenty of offense to give Tom Herman’s squad a game Saturday when the two programs meet at 12:00 p.m. ET. Will Maryland cover as a double-digit underdog?
Game Snapshot
173 Texas Longhorns at 174 Maryland Terps
12:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 1, 2018
FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Longhorns are 13.5-point favorites to beat the Terps. The total, meanwhile, sits at 55 points. As of this writing, 65% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Longhorns.
Texas Longhorns
Texas senior WR John Burt (foot) has been ruled out for Saturday’s opener against Maryland. Burt (6’3/195) sustained a sprained foot midway through preseason camp. While he’ll have had about two weeks to heal up by the time the Longhorns suit up on Saturday, it appears that the speedy wideout still has further rehabilitation ahead of him before he’ll be ready to take the field. Texas will be rolling out a starting receiving group of Collin Johnson, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Devin Duvernay this weekend.
Maryland Terps
Maryland sophomore QB Kasim Hill (knee) and redshirt sophomore QB Tyrell Pigrome (knee) are listed as co-starters on the team’s Week 1 depth chart. Both Hill and Pigrome sustained season-ending knee injuries last September, during what was an injury-ravaged campaign for the Terps quarterbacks room. Both young men have made it all the way back on the recovery trail to practice in full this month, though it’s still unclear who will take the opening snaps versus Texas this coming weekend. Nor is it known whether we’ll be looking at something of a QB rotation early on. For reference’s sake, it was Pigrome who initially started for Maryland a year ago.
Betting Trends
Texas
Texas has covered four straight spreads when playing at a neutral site.
Maryland
Maryland has failed to cover the spread in four of its last five neutral site games.
Prediction
A year ago, these two teams played in a 51-41 shootout and while Texas might have revenge on its mind, Maryland has too much offensive firepower not to hang within the two-touchdown spread. The Longhorns lost a couple of key defenders to the NFL and have injuries at the linebacker positions, which will force highly recruited underclassmen to play key roles. In what could be another shootout, I’ll take the points.
College Football Week 1 Prediction: Maryland Terps +13.5