Maryland Football: A look back at history with Florida International

This is the first installment of a series we are doing on  the Maryland football team’s 2016 opponents. Since the Terrapins have never faced Howard, we’re going to skip over the Bison.

We’re going to take a look back at the history between Maryland and their weekly opponents. We will begin with the Golden Panthers.

Maryland and Florida International have only faced each other four times. The last matchup took place on Aug. 31, 2013.

All four meetings have taken place since the 2006 season with the Terps winning each one.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key games and individual performances from the series:

Most interesting game: Obviously, there isn’t a ton to choose from with such a short series. The most intriguing contest took place on Sept. 23, 2006 in College Park. The Terps got all they could handle from the Golden Panthers in a 14-10 victory. Quarterback Sam Hollenbach tossed touchdown passes to Josh Allen and Isaiah Williams. The close contest came as a surprise to many because Florida International went 0-12 that season. They did manage to outgain the Terps 310-275 in the yardage department.

Best individual performance: There was quite a few to choose from with several Maryland running backs and wide receivers turning in spectacular efforts against Florida International. The impactful has to be Torrey Smith in the Sept. 25, 2010 meeting. Smith was the beneficiary of a very efficient performance by quarterback Danny O’Brien. The San Francisco 49ers wideout caught eight passes for 159 yards and a touchdown in a 42-28 win. He averaged 19.9 yards-per-catch on the afternoon.

Largest margin of victory: Three of the four games between the two schools were relatively close. However, the latest meeting was not. On Aug. 31, 2013, the Terps routed the Golden Panthers 43-10 behind an absolutely lethal afternoon through the air. Quarterback C.J. Brown 20-of-23 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns. He also managed to add 105 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground.

Star wideouts Stefon Diggs (five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown) and Deon Long (nine receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown) were completely on the same page with Brown. This was the second season at Maryland for Diggs after he caught 54 passes for 848 yards and six touchdowns in 2012. His touchdown against the Golden Panthers was only one of three during an injury-shortened campaign.

Forecast for the 2016 meeting: Maryland almost certainly will come into the game with a 1-0 record due to the fact that they should dismantle Howard. Florida International is coming off a season in which they went 5-7 with wins against Central Florida and Old Dominion.

Next: D.J. Moore looking to take leap forward

The Golden Panthers will likely be 0-1 heading into this matchup because they’re set to face an Indiana program that is on the rise. This will be another nice test for D.J. Durkin and the Terps early in the season. The offensive line will get an additional week of game action to gel along with the secondary. Maryland should win this game pretty handily with Perry Hills likely to have a big day.