Foster Farms Bowl
Levi's Stadium - Santa Clara, CA
Kickoff: Tuesday, 10:00 p.m. ET
Line: Stanford -14, Total: 47.5

Maryland looks to win its first bowl game victory since the 2010 season when it collides with Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl on Tuesday night.

The Terrapins were one of the more unpredictable teams this season as they went back and forth between wins and losses over the final seven games after starting 4-1 SU (3-2 ATS). They had seven games where they turned the ball over one or fewer times but also tended to implode and coughed up the ball 4+ times on three separate occasions. Maryland was considered the underdog more often than not during the regular season, as it went 4-3 (both SU and ATS) in those games and recently defeated Michigan by a score of 23-16 as a 6.5-point road underdog. The Terrapins made it into the Eagle Bowl last year, but were unable to defeat Marshall as 2.5-point underdogs in a 31-20 defeat. Their last bowl win came in the 2010 Eagle Bowl when they took down East Carolina 51-20 while giving eight points. The Cardinal earned two straight victories on the road in the tough Pac-12 to finish off the year and make it into a bowl, defeating California and UCLA in back-to-back weeks by an average of 21.0 PPG. Before that, Stanford was just 5-5 SU (4-6 ATS), but was considered the favorite in four of five defeats. Its worst loss came at the hands of Utah when it was a 10-point favorite at home and suffered a 20-17 loss on Nov. 15. One of the biggest problems was the Cardinal's inability to force turnovers, tallying one or fewer takeaways in eight different contests. They have managed a January bowl game in each of the past four seasons while going 2-2 SU (3-1 ATS), and are coming off a close 24-20 loss as 7.5-point underdogs against Michigan State in the 2013 Rose Bowl. Trends show that Maryland is a perfect 6-0 ATS when the total is between 42.5 and 49 over the past two seasons, while Stanford has gone 33-14 ATS (70%) after a game where it committed no turnovers since 1992. The top receiver on each team made the injury report for this one, as WR Stefon Diggs (kidney) is probable for the Terrapins, and WR Ty Montgomery (shoulder) is questionable on the Cardinal side of the ball.

Which school will end the season with eight victories? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014-15 bowl season. StatFox Dave is heating up with a 62% ATS mark (8-5) in College Football Best Bets since Nov. 20, while StatFox Brian is 58% ATS (11-8) in Best Bets since Nov. 12. Brian is a strong 61% ATS (11-7) in all bowl picks, and StatFox Forecaster is 67% ATS (12-6) in all bowl picks.

The Maryland offense was nothing special this year as it produced 29.1 PPG (67th in nation) behind 221.5 passing YPG (73rd in FBS) and a putrid 130.4 rushing YPG (105th in nation). QB C.J. Brown (2,083 pass yards, 13 TD, 9 INT) eclipsed 200 passing yards just once over the final eight games of the year, but did not throw a pick in four of the final five contests. He is a threat to take off and run the ball as well, as he totaled 569 rushing yards (3.8 YPC) and 7 TD on the ground this year. Brown was the top rusher on the team with HB Brandon Ross (385 rush yards, 4 TD) leading the way otherwise. He is coming off his best performance of the year (108 rush yards, 2 TD) in the loss against Rutgers to finish off the regular season. WR Stefon Diggs (654 rec yards, 5 TD) will be a nice addition back onto the team after missing the final three games of the year, as he averaged 73.0 receiving YPG and hit the century mark three different times in nine starts. The defensive side of things didn’t look much better for Maryland, which allowed opponents to score 28.9 PPG (84th in FBS), including 35+ points in each one of their losses. They really struggled against the run (201.6 rushing YPG allowed) and will need the trio of DL Andre Monroe (9 sacks, 56 tackles), LB Yannick Ngakoue (6 sacks, 35 tackles) and DB William Likely (76 tackles, 6 INT, 1 sack) to make some big plays in order to pull off an upset.

Stanford has a mediocre, but balanced, offense that threw for 231.7 YPG (63rd in nation) and rushed for another 154.8 YPG (75th in FBS) while putting up just 25.7 PPG (88th in nation). QB Kevin Hogan (2,603 pass yards, 17 TD, 8 INT) was efficient in connecting on 66% of his passes for 7.8 YPA, and had just one pick in the final three games of the regular season. He was decent at running the ball as well, with 245 rushing yards (2.9 YPC) and five touchdowns. HB Remound Wright (552 rush yards, 8 TD) had just six games with double-digit carries, as he averaged 4.3 YPC. He has heated up of late though, and has six of his eight touchdowns over the past two games, where he's run for a total of 156 yards (4.1 YPC) against Cal and UCLA on the road. WR Ty Montgomery (604 rec yards, 3 TD) leads the team with 61 receptions, but has become more of a possession receiver with a mere 9.9 yards per catch (15.7 yards per catch in 2013). If he is unable to play through his injury, the team has a viable backup to fill his slot, as WR Devon Cajuste (510 rec yards, 4 TD) can be a lightning in a bottle while going for 17.0 yards per catch. The defense is what really drives this team to success as it ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (16.0 PPG allowed) and has dominated against the pass (175.7 YPG allowed, 7th in FBS). As a team, the Cardinal totaled 40 sacks with six individuals getting to the quarterback more than four times, while the leadership of LB Blake Martinez (95 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 3 INT) proved vital.