Now, they head to College Park, Maryland, to try and make
history.So, what are the main storylines for Saturday?
1. Maryland is dinged up. Starting left tackle Justin Gilbert is done for the season with a torn ACL, forcing the Terps to shift the other linemen around like a puzzle to find the next best lineup.
Meanwhile, starting quarterback Jamarr Robinson (shoulder) and backup Danny O'Brien (ankle) are fighting off injury. Head coach Ralph Friedgen has said that both will be healthy enough to play on Saturday, but in the case that either one goes down with injury, true freshman Devin Burns would serve as the backup and potentially burn his redshirt.
2. FIU is looking for its first BCS win. The Golden Panthers have gotten within striking distance twice already this year, falling just short of beating Rutgers (at home) and Texas A&M (on the road). FIU lost 19-14 to Rutgers and 27-20 to Texas A&M. It's pretty clear that Maryland can't simply sleepwalk through this game as if it was against Morgan State again. If FIU doesn't win on Saturday, it'll have its fourth chance to win a game against a BCS team in as many weeks when it travels to Pittsburgh.
3. This is an important game for Maryland. It sounds silly, but it's true. There aren't many more "gimmie" games left on the Terps' schedule, and it could really use a win here. Next week against Duke is much of the same. After next week, Maryland is on the road four out of five weeks, before returning to play Florida State. Getting to 3-1 (and ideally 4-1 after Duke) before a long road trip would be huge for Maryland's bowl bid hopes.
This marks the third time these two teams have played, the first two coming in 2006 and 2007, where Maryland won 14-10 and 26-10, respectively.
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