Washington
vs.
Cal
College Football Pick
11/5/16
After winning at Utah last weekend, it may look like Washington has an easy route the rest of the way, but in reality, it’s far from it. The Huskies still have two road Games and while Cal may not look like much, they play like a different team at home. Whether that’s the case or not, the Huskies are -17 point favorites on the road.
Cal may have one of the worst defenses in the conference, but they haven’t lost at home yet. Some of their wins include over Texas, Utah and Oregon. Washington just had trouble with the Utes so that win for the Golden Bears can’t be overlooked.
On the other side, Washington has had its own issues on the road. While they completely destroyed Oregon, there were some questions in seven-point wins over both Arizona and Utah. The Huskies are no doubt the better team, but this is a Game they can’t overlook, especially with USC next on the Schedule.
When these teams met last year, the situation was a bit different and Cal won 30-24 in Washington. Surprisingly, their defense actually led the way as Jake Browning could get nothing going. Of course, the difference between then and now is that Browning has a full season under his belt.
Browning is the obvious concern for a Cal defense that is allowing a ridiculous 41.8 points per Game. Browning has been pretty incredible in his sophomore season, completing 67.7% of his passes for 28 touchdowns and only three interceptions. That said, he hasn’t completed more than 60% of his passes in the last two Games and one of those came against lowly Oregon State.
But in addition to Browning, running backs Myles Gaskin and LAvon Coleman haven’t been stopped, either. Gaskin has hit 100 yards in Four straight and has averaged at least 7.1 yards per carry in the last three Games. Nothing about this Cal defense suggests that they can slow down this attack.
And that’s where Cal quarterback Davis Webb comes in. He’s having a solid season himself, completing 62.4% of his passes for 29 TDs and 8 INTs. Most notably, his numbers are even better at home with 17 touchdowns and only one interception in Four Games. Sure, he hasn’t seen a defense like the Huskies yet, but he looked just fine against the Utes, who are no slouches.
Washington allowed 28 points to a backup quarterback and running back at Arizona about a month ago, so there is some hope for this Cal offense. The question will be if they can run the ball on this Huskies front. Khalfani Muhammad is having a solid season, reaching 6.6 yards per carry, but if he or Tre Watson can’t find room on the ground, that will make things tougher for Webb.
There’s always the letdown factor here for Washington coming off a big road win in addition to Cal being a much different team at home.
The Huskies don’t have many trends, but are 5-2 ATS in their last seven November Games and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Games on field turf. The Golden Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last five home Games, but just 3-8 ATS in their last 11 Conference Games.
Our Pick – Washington -17