Cardinal vs Golden Bears NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The Stanford/Cal rivalry has received a lot of publicity through the years. None of the games have been as memorable as the 1982 game where the band was on the field. Still, this year’s game is a pretty important one for both teams.
Stanford Cardinal vs. California Golden Bears
California Memorial Stadium
Saturday October 20, 3:00 PM EST on FOX
College Football Betting Odds from SBO
Moneyline: Stanford (-145) Cal (+125)
College Football Spread: Stanford -3 (-110) vs. Cal +3 (-110)
Over/Under: 49
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight! | Buy Ray’s Picks!
Jeff Tedford is increasingly on the hot seat at Cal, and Stanford must bounce back from a very tough loss at Notre Dame last week.
Stanford
Stanford lost to Notre Dame 20-13 in overtime last week, and the game ended with a controversial call. The Cardinal led through most of that game, and considering the questionable call at the end, you have to think this team was really hurting after that loss.
How will Stanford respond?
GRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2012 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting!
Their response in this game will tell a lot about this team. Stanford’s offense has taken a major step backward after the loss of Andrew Luck. Josh Nunes isn’t a bad quarterback, but he is too inconsistent. Nunes is completing just 53.3% of his passes.
Stepfan Taylor is the team’s best offensive player. Stanford is averaging 28.5 points per game.
The Cardinal defense is terrific against the run and bad against the pass.
It isn’t often you’ll see a team that is so good at one thing and terrible at another, but that is how this unit is. Stanford is giving up only 89.5 rushing yards per game, but they are allowing 280 yards through the air per game.
Overall, the Cardinal defense is giving up 21.5 points per contest.
Cal
Jeff Tedford has done a lot of good things for the Cal Golden Bears football program, but the wins just haven’t been coming often enough in the past few years. The program went up quickly several years ago, but now they seem to be on the decline. Cal is just 3-4 on the year, and this is really a game they need to win. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Bears offense has been up and down this season. Zach Maynard does a lot of things well at quarterback, but he doesn’t take care of the ball well enough. C.J. Anderson and Isi Sofele have turned into a very nice tailback tandem for Cal.
At wide receiver, the Bears have a star in Keenan Allen. Allen has 51 catches already this year.
The Golden Bears defense was very good a year ago, but they lost a ton of talent at the end of last season. Cal’s defense has had a rough time so far this season. The Golden Bears rank 80th in the nation in total defense. The secondary has been picked on by top quarterbacks, and the pass rush isn’t even close to what it was last year.
Cal is allowing 26.4 points per game this year.
Both teams should show up ready to play for a game like this. Stanford has been playing in very low scoring games, and I think this will be similar.
Look for a low scoring tight game all the way.
Free College Football Pick: Under 49
