Washington State Cougars at California Golden Bears
Memorial Stadium – Berkeley, California
Saturday, October 5, 2013, 4:00 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports 1
Opening Line: California -1 1/2
Current Line: Washington State -1 1/2
Opening Total: 64 1/2
Current Total: 66
Opening Money Line: Cal -115 / WSU -105
Current Money Line: WSU -115 / Cal -105
The 3-2 Washington State Cougars travel to the 1-3 California Golden Bears Saturday in Pac 12 action. The Cougars are 1-1 in the Pac 12 and the Bears are 0-1. Cal leads the series 44-25-5 and has won 8 straight games in the series including 31-17 last year in Pullman.
Washington State is coached by Mike Leach. The Cougars opened the season with a 31-24 loss at Auburn, before winning three straight games at USC 10-7, Southern Utah 48-10 and Idaho 42-0 (the latter two in Pullman.) Washington State was drilled 55-17 last week in Seattle against Stanford. The Cougars are 4-1 ATS and the total is 2-3 this season. Washington State was a 9 point underdog against Stanford and the total was 46.5.
After the two teams exchanged field goals in the first quarter Stanford scored 45 unanswered points to take control of the game against Washington State. The Cardinal would never look back in the 55-17 rout. The Cardinal had 560 total yards including 238 rushing yards. Washington State had 373 total yards including 322 passing yards. Stanford overcame 9 penalties and a turnover, while the Cougars had 2 turnovers including a pick six.
Washington State is outscoring teams 28-21 this season. The Cougars are averaging 388 total yards per game including the nation’s 13th best passing attack at 327.4 yards per game. The rushing game is #123 out of 125 games at 60.6 yards per game. On defense Washington State is #25 in total defense at 323.8 yards per game, including the #11 passing defense at 159 yards and 164.8 rushing yards per game. Despite forcing 9 turnovers this season, the Cougars are -4 in turnover because they have 13 giveaways. Washington State is averaging 45 penalty yards per game and opponents are averaging 46. The Cougars are 34/80 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 29/83. The Cougars have forced 8 sacks and allowed 9 this season. Washington State is 13/19 scoring in the red zone with 11 touchdowns and opponents are 6/9 with 3 touchdowns. Washington State has 2 pick sixes this season and have allowed 3 defensive/special teams touchdowns.
California is coached by Sonny Dykes. The Golden Bears have three losses to teams currently a combined 13-0 and all of whom are ranked in the top 15, Northwestern 44-30, Ohio State 52-34 and last week at Oregon 55-16. The only win for the Bears came at home to Portland State 37-30. The Golden Bears are 0-4 ATS and the total is 3-1 this season. Cal was a 38.5 point underdog at Oregon last week and the total was 81.
Oregon scored the first 41 points of the game before Cal got on the board with a field goal on the last play of the first half. Cal would be down 55-3 in the third, and the Golden Bears would add 2 late touchdowns but missed a very important extra point on the last one that allowed Oregon to cover the 38.5 point spread. Oregon only had 381 total yards including 264 rushing yards. California had 325 total yards including 149 rushing yards. The Golden Bears had 5 turnovers and 11 penalties for 97 yards. Oregon had 2 turnovers and 9 penalties for 83 yards.
Cal is being outscored 45-29 this season. The Golden Bears are #18 in total offense nationally at 498 yards per game including the fourth best passing attack at 371.8 yards per game. The rushing game is #99 nationally at 126.2 yards per game. On defense, California is allowing 515 yards per game including 250 passing yards and 265 rushing yards. The Golden Bears are #121 out of 125 teams or worse in total, rushing and scoring defense. Cal is -3 in turnovers with 8 takeaways. Cal is averaging 66 penalty yards per game and their opponents are averaging 68 yards per game. The Bears are 37/87 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 26/66. California has forced 4 sacks this season but allowed 15. The Golden Bears are 15/17 scoring in the red zone with 9 touchdowns, and opponents are 17/19 with 13 touchdowns. California has allowed two pick sixes and two punt returns for touchdowns this season.
California quarterback Jared Goff has completed 60.9% of his passes for 1,317 yards with 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, along with a rushing touchdown. He was benched against Oregon after a few series that ended with turnovers. Zach Kline replaced him and threw for 165 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Goff will start, but Kline could see some snaps. Running back Brendan Bigelow has 62 carries for 236 yards, plus 9 catches for 74 yards. Daniel Lasco, Khalfani Muhammed and Jeffrey Coprich will also get some carries, and each has a touchdown run. Receiver Bryce Treggs has 30 catches, 348 yards and a touchdown. Chris Harper has 24 catches, 339 yards and 3 touchdowns. James Grisom has only 3 catches but two of them went for touchdowns. Nine Cal defensive players are listed as questionable or out Saturday.
Washington State is 4-0-1 ATS after failing to cover, 4-0 after a straight up loss, 6-1 after a double digit home loss, 12-2 after allowing 200 rushing yards or more, 5-1 overall, 4-1-1 against teams with losing home records, 4-1 after rushing for less than 100 yards, after allowing more than 450 total yards, after scoring less than 20 points, and on fieldturf, 9-3 after allowing more than 40 points, 12-4 in October, 9-4-1 after allowing more than 280 passing yards, and 1-4-1 against teams with losing records. The road team is 7-2 ATS in this series recently. The Cougars are 5-1 ATS in their last trips to Berkeley.
California is 9-4 ATS against teams with winning road records, 2-6 after allowing less than 170 passing yards, 3-14 overall, 2-14 after a straight up loss of 20 points or more, 0-7 after failing to cover, after allowing more than 40 points and after allowing more than 200 rushing yards, 0-6 in Pac 12 games, at home, against teams with winning records and on fieldturf, and 0-4 after scoring less than 20 points. Five of the last seven games in this series have gone under the total.
Both of these teams were smoked by top five teams last week in Stanford and Oregon. Both Washington State and California have explosive passing offenses but Washington State is much better on defense. Still, Cal has played a much tougher schedule and I see them winning a close game.
Our best college football picks are available now to help you dominate the books and increase your bankroll. Our college football handicappers have gone 15-4 (79%) recently.
