Florida International @ Maryland preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 25, 2010 ) Florida International 28, Maryland 42

A pair of teams looking to improve on last year's losing campaigns meet when Maryland hosts Florida International on Saturday. Both programs are experiencing transition as Florida International begins its first season in Conference USA while Maryland starts its last as an Atlantic Coast Conference member before heading to the Big Ten in 2014. The Terrapins were voted to finish fifth in the ACC's seven-team Atlantic Division.

The Panthers are led by first-year coach Ron Turner as they try to claim their first series victory against the Terrapins in the fourth meeting since 2006. Maryland welcomes quarterback C.J. Brown back from an ACL injury. Brown sat out in 2012 after setting the school's single-single rushing mark (574) for a quarterback in 2011.

TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Maryland), FSN Florida (Florida International). LINE: Maryland -21

ABOUT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (3-9, 2-6 Sun Belt): The Panthers lost 30 seniors and return only five primary starters - one on offense - as they enter 2013 with one of the youngest teams in the nation. Florida International's lone returning offensive starter is redshirt junior quarterback Jake Medlock, who threw for 2,127 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2012 and is also the Panthers top returning rusher with 236 yards. The defensive unit is more experienced with three senior returning starters led by cornerback Sam Miller, FIU's top returning tackler with 62.

ABOUT MARYLAND (4-8, 2-6 ACC): The Terrapins return three of their top five rushers from 2012, including sophomore Brandon Ross who claimed the starting job in the final three games of the season and led the team with 390 yards on 85 carries. Sophomore Stefon Diggs is also back after posting a team-best 848 receiving yards while ranking second in the ACC and eighth nationally with 172.4 all-purpose yards per game. Seventy percent of the two-deep depth chart returns, including 15 of 22 defensive players from a unit that ranked 21st nationally in total defense.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Turner and Maryland coach Randy Edsall last met as assistant coaches in the NFL in 1995, when Turner handled the quarterbacks with the Chicago Bears while Edsall coached defensive backs with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

2. Both teams list 12 starters who are sophomores or younger on their respective depth charts.

3. Florida International is winless in seven all-time meetings against ACC schools Duke (0-2), Maryland (0-3), Miami (0-1) and Pittsburgh (0-1).

PREDICTION: Maryland 36, Florida International 17