Fearless Forecast: Northwestern vs. Maryland

Northwestern returns to the warm embrace of a road game on Saturday against Maryland.

The Wildcats (1-5, 1-2 Big Ten), who are coming off of a bye week, won their only game all year in Ireland, and then turned in their next-best performance of the season at Penn State. They are 0-4 at Ryan Field,.

The big question for Maryland (5-2, 2-2) is who will play quarterback. Their dynamic star, Taulia Tagovailoa, will be a game-time decision after re-spraining his MCL in the fourth quarter of last week's win over Indiana.

Can a week off and playing away from home light a fire under struggling Northwestern and snap a five-game losing streak? Or will the Terrapins douse the Wildcats' barely flickering flame, no matter who is at QB?

Our staff weighs in with their takes.

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MORE CATS COVERAGE: An insider's look at Maryland l QB position up in the air for both Cats and Terps

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My take: An injury to Taulia Tagovailoa and a bye week will help a Northwestern team desperate for a win, but they won’t be enough. They are the polar opposites of Maryland heading into this matchup. The Terrapins are on a roll, off to a 5-2 start. They have the coaching, the success and the momentum to weather this matchup with potentially a backup quarterback and less prep than the Wildcats.

Quarterback Brendan Sullivan could give NU a spark if he gets the start, but I think it’s still too much to pick the Wildcats over 5-2 Maryland. Even with some potential luck, the Wildcats are still two-touchdown underdogs against a rolling Maryland squad for good reason. The defense has struggled mightily in any conference game outside of a monsoon, and the offense has been completely stagnant.

Even with the bye week boost, Northwestern is going to come up short.

Fearless forecast: Maryland 31 Northwestern 10

My take: This game and Iowa feel like NU's last "winnable" matchups this season. Still, the Cats are 14-point dogs to the Terps.

The knock on Maryland is its secondary, dealing with injuries and lack of efficacy against the pass. This opportunity would be cause for hope if NU hadn't thrown for only two touchdowns in its last 180 minutes of football. (One of those was at the one-yard line, for what it's worth). Ryan Hilinski hasn't looked sharp since he threw the ball 60 times against Duke; he won't get that many reps again. Ideally, NU could spread out the Terps' defense and burn them on a deep balls, maybe something over the top. The Cats have been good for one or two of those per game. Problem is, it's Week 8 and I can't tell you who would throw the ball and who would catch it. Maybe Bryce Kirtz on a post route?

Fearless forecast: Maryland 21 Northwestern 7

My take: Okay, hear me out here.

Maryland, with backup Billy Edwards Jr. at quarterback, becomes a one-dimensional running team. The Cats throw some blitz packages at the redshirt freshman quarterback and he turns the ball over a couple times.

The Northwestern offense, meanwhile, finds a spark with backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan at the controls. The zone-read game catches the Terrapins off-guard, and the offense generates yards and time-of-possession on the ground.

If all that happens, Northwestern can cover. But they're not going to win against a Terrapin team that's better across the board and has a lot to play for this season.

I feel like we should submit two picks here: one if Tagovailoa plays, and one if he doesn't. I'll split the difference, but the end result will be the same.

Fearless forecast: Maryland 27 Northwestern 14