California at Oregon State

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Oregon State Beavers will host the California Golden Bears in Pac-10 action. The Beavers were not in action last week, but will try and rebound from a disappointing 35-34 double-overtime loss at Washington in their last game. The Golden Bears rebounded from a tough loss at USC with an impressive 50-17 win at home over Arizona State. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current college football odds have the Beavers favored by 3-points over the Golden Bears at home.

California (4-3, 2-2 Pac-10): The Golden Bears really looked good against Arizona State last week, playing well on both sides of the ball. After being criticized for his performance against USC, quarterback Kevin Riley completed 19 of 28 attempts for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The Golden Bears also got a big game from running back Shane Vereen, who finished with 91 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, giving him 721 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season.

Defensively the Golden Bears played extremely well, as they held the Sun Devils to just 234 yards of total offense, and forced three big turnovers. The only points that Arizona State could score came on a blocked punt for a touchdown and a 25 yard fumble recovery for a score.

All four of the Golden Bears wins this season have came at home, as they are 0-3 on the road. For California to win away from home this week they are going to need another big time performance from their defense and mistake free game from Riley.

Oregon State (3-3, 2-1 Pac-10): The Beavers continue to find themselves in close games, as all six of their games have been decided by nine points or less. In their last game against Washington the Beavers fell behind 21-0 early, before scoring 21 points of their own to tie it at 21. The Beavers could have forced a third overtime, but instead elected to go for two and failed.

Running back Jacquizz Rogers provided most of the fire power for the Beavers against Washington, as he ran for 140 yards and three scores on 32 carries, and added four catches for 49 yards and one more score. With James Rodgers out, the offense is centered around Jacquizz and this team will go as far as he takes them.

Looking at the Odds: The Bears come in ranked 22nd in the country allowing just 114 yards a game on the ground, but allowed 211 on the ground to USC in their last road game. With the way Cal has struggled away from their home field, I think your money has to be on Oregon State at -3, but this game figures to be close all the way. My final score prediction is Oregon State 34, California 28.

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