Cal -1 opening line

[Onlyu]

A little surprised that Cal is favored and thought we’d be -3 or 4 but based on our defensive performance last week with all of the blown assignments, LB play,etc. it probably makes sense. Gonna be a crazy game I’m afraid.

[rbmw263]

I was expecting a Cal favor. At home and their offense is much better than the one that just shredded our defense.

[Warrior Ute]

I also thought we might be listed as an underdog.  One thing is Cal so far has not really faced a team with a strong defense.  We assume that they have a stronger offense than USC, but USC has faced 3 extremely strong defenses, Alabama, Stanford and Utah.  Cal has faced teams that regularly give up more than 30+ points.  I think we may be able to shut them down more than expected.  Especially if our defense that played in the first and fourth quarters last week shows up.

 

 

[Anonymous]

Cal’s offense better than USC??? Cal has played a very easy schedule. Suck Dog State probably being their best opponent.

[popbirch]

I don’t think the defense got shredded. It wasn’t the best game they played. I think if you discount turnovers as luck then it’s a little easier to think we got shredded. But realistically turnovers are a skill that is enhanced or degraded by luck. There are teams that are good at generating tos and teams that aren’t. TOs are a part the game plan and account for a lot of last years defensive success also.

The defense played admirably but has some things to fix.

Only gave up 20 pts. Stanford gave up 10 and bama gave up 10. Held for 10 in the second half with 0 turnovers that half.

That defense held darnold to an 82 qbr. Usc had a 76 against bama and 116 against Stanford.

Certainly I won’t argue that our defense had some mistakes but mostly in the run game. I just don’t think we got “shredded” as bad as people think.

[rbmw263]

We gave up nearly 8 yards per play. That is shredded.

[rbmw263]

Last year, the worst defense in the FBS (Rice) gave up 7.13 yards per play. We gave up 7.8.

I liked a lot of the things I saw Friday. But the defense was horrific.

[Anonymous]

It was worst in 2015.

[89ute]

Cal sucks on the line of scrimmage both sides. Watch the line surge on any given play against any team Cal has played this year. Cal gets blown back. Hawaii even pushed them around. Saturday will be a pic and sack fest.

Sit back and enjoy.

If you’re a betting man put the farm on the Utes.

Utes minus 1 is a joke. Get yourself paid!

[Onlyu]

Agreed…I’m headed to the game so want nothing more than another great result. Unfortunately I think injuries could play a role. We need a little luck the next couple of days and hope for no announcements. A couple of evaluations tomorrow need to come back positive. Fingers crossed.

[Tony (admin)]

Home field is worth 3 points to the bookies. So the numbers were probably Utah -2 to begin with. First real road test is going to be interesting.

[RedLine]

Vegas lines are set to maximize bets – not necessarily set on the overall strength of the team. Stanford is +3.5 on the road against UDub.

[Tony (admin)]

Right. Vegas wants 50% betting on each side. Not a prediction of the score.

[Puget Ute]

We gave up nearly 8 yards per play. That is shredded.

We gave that up vs. one of the best O Lines in CFB, and without the three first-rounders that we had on our D line last year (Lowell – only played 1st quarter, Kylie Fitts, Stevie T).

And we still held one of the best WRs in FBS to 68 yds and no TDs.

USC is 1-3 right now, but they are far more likely to go 9-3 than they are too finish 1-11 or 3-9.