Listen Live: Maryland Terrapins At Iowa Hawkeyes [Live Audio] College Football
Listen to play-by-play of the Maryland Terrapins as they take on the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa starting with pre-game at 2:30 PM Saturday on 105.7 The Fan! (no streaming)
PREVIEW
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, October 31, 2015
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ABC.
By SportsDirect Inc.
Iowa is looking to continue its surprisingly good season and improve to 8-0 for only the second time in school history when it hosts Maryland on Saturday in Big Ten play. The No. 11 Hawkeyes appear headed for a spot in the conference title game and can further their College Football Playoff aspirations by handing the Terrapins a fifth straight loss.
Not much was expected of Iowa prior to the season, but reeling off seven consecutive victories has dramatically altered the landscape. "It's crazy to think about because a lot of people didn't have a lot of faith in us," senior weak-side linebacker Cole Fisher said at a press conference. "You can't get caught up in that. We have five games remaining and that's a long ways to go." Maryland will be playing its second game under interim coach Mike Locksley after the firing of Randy Edsall, and Locksley knows what to expect from the Hawkeyes. "They've always been really sound," Locksley said a press conference. "They try not to do a lot in terms of tricking you or masking it. They line up and play good hard-nosed, clean football in all three phases."
ABOUT MARYLAND (2-5, 0-3 Big Ten): Junior quarterback Perry Hills (six touchdowns, seven interceptions) is a work-in-progress as a passer but has topped 100 rushing yards in each of the past two games and has 413 yards on the season. Senior running back Brandon Ross has a team-best 489 yards and his 2,074 career yards rank 12th in school history while pushing him within 85 yards of the Top 10. Senior cornerback Sean Davis leads the nation with five forced fumbles and has two interceptions while sophomore middle linebacker Jermaine Carter (team-best 68 tackles), junior defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (team-leading nine sacks) and junior cornerback William Likely (nine passes defensed) also are standouts.
ABOUT IOWA (7-0, 3-0): Junior quarterback Casey Beathard has completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,415 yards and nine touchdowns and has been intercepted just three times. Senior running back Jordan Canzeri (698 yards, nine touchdowns) will miss the game with a lower left leg injury and sophomore Akrum Wadley will be making his first start after replacing Canzeri against Northwestern and rushing for 204 yards while tying the school mark of four rushing touchdowns. The Hawkeyes are allowing just 15.3 points and 74.1 rushing yards, and the key defenders include Fisher (team-best 61 tackles), senior defensive end Nate Meier (team-leading six sacks) and junior cornerback Desmond King (team-high six interceptions).
EXTRA POINTS
1. Likely had a 45-yard interception return for touchdown as Maryland posted a 38-31 victory last season in the first meeting between the teams.
2. This is the fifth time Iowa has been 7-0 - the best start belongs to the 2009 squad that won its first nine games.
3. Both teams have solid return specialists - Likely has returned two punts for scores while ranking third nationally with a 19.9 punt-return average and also averages 21.7 yards on kickoffs, while King is averaging 22.5 on kickoffs and 15.7 on punts.
LINE: Iowa -17.
PREDICTION: Iowa 26, Maryland 21
