This afternoon in Bloomington, Indiana the Maryland football program will officially begin its Big Ten era of football. The Terrapins will face Indiana in the first Big Ten conference game in program history. It will take place under far less hype than Rutgers received in a primetime debut at home against Penn State, but it will get underway nonetheless.
Maryland will look to record the first Big Ten conference win by a Big Ten expansion team since Penn State’s 193 Big Ten debut victory over Minnesota in 1993. Rutgers lost to Penn State this season. Nebraska lost its Big Ten debut to Wisconsin in 2011, 48-17. The Terps are taking on an Indiana team that just last week defeated a ranked SEC opponent, Missouri, on the road. The Hoosiers are a slight favorite in this afternoon’s contest and should be feeling confident about their chances to spoil Maryland’s Big Ten debut.
But Maryland has held their own in the early going. The Terrapins arrive in Big Ten play with a 3-1 record after pulling away from Syracuse on the road last week. This was just a week after a last-second field goal by West Virginia handed Maryland its only loss of the non-conference portion of the season.
Both Indiana and Maryland bring big-play ability to the field this afternoon, and this one could easily turn into a back-and-forth type game. Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown has already shown the ability to break some big runs this season and Kevin Wilson‘s Hoosiers have plenty of talent between running back Tevin Coleman and wide receiver Shane Wynn to break some big plays as well.
This Big Ten game has a very good chance to go against the Big Ten narrative of slow play and lethargic offensive styles.
