#131/132 ASA PLAY 8* ON Over 61.5 Points – Minnesota @ Maryland, Friday at 7:30 PM ET - The Maryland defense was one of the worst in the nation last year finishing dead last in the Big Ten in total defense. After one game, it looks like they might be worse this season. They allowed a Northwestern team that finished 13th in the conference last year at 16.3 PPG to put up 43 last Saturday. The Cats rolled up well over 500 yards including 325 on the ground. Minnesota put up 24 points vs a Michigan defense that is light years better than this Maryland stop unit. The Gophs scored 52 last year on the Terps and bring back essentially the same offense. We anticipate Minnesota topping 40 here and wouldn’t be surprised if they push 50 again. Can Maryland get their offense going after scoring only 3 points last week vs Northwestern? We think so. First of all they’ll be facing a Minnesota defense that lost most of their production from last year and allowed 49 points to a Michigan offense that was replacing nearly everyone from a year ago. They also have up a ridiculous 9.0 YPP and over 8.0 YPC on the ground. We liked Minnesota last week due to their experienced, potent offense and hoped their newcomers on defense would hold up. They are much worse than we anticipated on that side the ball. Maryland QB Tagovailoa (yes Tua’s brother) is talented and got his feet wet last week. He threw 3 interceptions and we expect a much better game from him as he faces a defense that is a big step down from Northwestern’s. The Terp defense has allowed at least 40 points in 6 of their last 10 games and we don’t anticipate them slowing Minnesota down here. While we expect Minnesota’s offense to thrive, we could never lay 20 points with the Gophs with a terrible defense. Maryland will look much better this week on offense and the weather looks perfect for this game with light winds and no precip. We like the OVER here.