College Football Betting News and Notes Friday 11/2

What Bettors Need to Know: Washington at California
By Covers.com

Washington at California (-4.5, 52)

Most teams don’t like short weeks, but California probably can’t wait to play again after last week’s embarrassing 49-27 loss at Utah. The Bears will look to rebound in a rare Friday game against visiting Washington, which knocked then-No. 7 Oregon State from the unbeaten ranks with a 20-17 win last Saturday. The Huskies are seeking their first road win this season after losing their first three by a combined 146-41. California needs to win its final three games to become bowl eligible, which is unlikely considering the Bears finish against Oregon and Oregon State. This figures to be a low-scoring contest since Washington hasn’t scored more than 21 points against any FBS opponent, while California ranks ninth in the conference in total offense.

LINE: California - 4.5, O/U 52.

WEATHER: Forecasts are calling for temperatures in the high-50s under partly cloudy skies. Winds will be light out of the west.

ABOUT WASHINGTON (4-4, 2-3 Pac-12): The inconsistent Huskies snapped a three-game losing streak with their second victory over a top 10 opponent last Saturday. Washington has been awful on the road, but its three losses have come to LSU, Oregon and Arizona. The offense has been surprisingly ineffective, with quarterback Keith Price throwing eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. Bishop Sankey leads the rushing attack with nine touchdowns, including two against Oregon State. One week after giving up 533 total yards in a 52-17 loss at Arizona, safety Sean Parker pulled in one of Washington’s four interceptions against the Beavers.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA (3-6, 2-4): The Bears have lost five of their last seven games, leading to rampant speculation about coach Jeff Tedford’s future. California has lost two straight games by a combined 70-30, and the Bears trailed Utah 42-6 in the third quarter last week. The team’s best playmaker appears to be tailback sophomore Brendan Bigelow, but Tedford seems reluctant to increase his workload. Bigelow is averaging 12.7 yards per carry and 13.8 yards per catch on only 33 touches, and recorded his third touchdown run of at least 50 yards this season against Utah. The Bears have allowed an average of 4.1 sacks per game, which ranks 118th in the country.

TRENDS:

* Huskies are 5-1 ATS in their last six meetings.
* Over is 4-1 in the last five meetings in California.
* Huskies are 0-7 ATS in their last seven road games.
* Under is 7-1 in Golden Bears’ last eight home games.
* Golden Bears are 4-0 ATS in their last four November games.

EXTRA POINTS:

1. According to the NCAA, Washington has played the second-toughest schedule in the nation. The Huskies’ first eight opponents are 47-17 while the remaining four are 9-24.

2. California K Vincenzo D’Amato has made his last nine field goal attempts after missing five of his first nine tries this season.

3. The Huskies hold a 50-38-4 edge in the all-time series, and have won three straight.

NCAAF Week 10

Underdogs are 8-3 in last 11 Washington-California games; Huskies won last three years, with 16-13 win at Cal in '10 their first win in Berkeley in last four tries. Washington is 6-11 as road dog under Sarkisian, 0-3 this year, losing games on foreign soil by average score of 48-14- they've got home wins over Stanford/Oregon State, top 20 teams, but haven't been competitive on road. From 2008-11, Cal was 17-3 vs spread as a home favorite, but they've lost three of four games in their refurbished home stadium this year (0-1 as home favorite). Pac-12 home favorites are 9-8 against the spread. Five of last seven Washington games stayed under.

Armadillosports.com

Washington at California
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com

This week’s edition of Friday Night Lights takes us to Berkeley, where California will take on Washington in a Pac-12 showdown.

As of early this morning, most sports books had Cal (3-6 straight up, 3-6 against the spread) favored by four with a total of 52. Bettors can take the Huskies to win outright for a plus-160 payout (risk $100 to win $160).

Washington (4-4 SU, 4-4 ATS) has had an up-and-down year highlighted by a pair of home wins over previously-unbeaten teams. The Huskies knocked off Stanford 17-13 as seven-point home underdogs in a Thursday night game on Sept. 27.

But Steve Sarkisian’s squad went on a three-game losing slide following the win over the Cardinal. UW snapped out of the three-game funk by shocking Oregon St. 20-17 as a three-point home underdog last weekend.

Bishop Sankey rushed 25 times for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but UW’s defense was the catalyst in the victory as they intercepted OSU quarterback Sean Mannion four times.

Sandwiched between the wins over top-10 teams Stanford and Oregon St, the Huskies lost at Oregon (52-21) vs. Southern Cal (24-14) and at Arizona (52-17). They also got killed 41-3 at LSU in Week 2.

UW’s two other wins came at home vs. San Diego St. (21-12) and vs. Portland St. (52-13).

Promising junior quarterback Keith Rivers has not been able to match the numbers he posted in 2011 when he completed 66.0 percent of his passes with a 33/11 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In 2012, Rivers has completed only 60.1 percent of his throws with a mediocre 8/9 TD-INT ratio.

Sankey, the true sophomore running back, has emerged as the team’s most consistent offensive option. Sankey has rushed for 666 yards and nine TD, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

Despite Sankey’s production, UW’s offense has been a colossal disappointment. The Huskies are ranked 105th in the country in scoring offense, averaging a pedestrian 20.6 points per game. The UW defense is ranked 68th in the nation, giving up 28.0 PPG.

Washington has been pathetic in three road games, losing by margins of 38, 35, and 31 points.

Cal head coach Jeff Tedord is on a boiling hot seat in his 11th season at the helm. Tedford won 43 games in his first five years from 2002-2006, including a pair of 10-win campaigns. However, the win totals have been 7, 9, 8, 5 and 7 the last five years and the Bears must win out just to be considered for a bowl game.

Cal has lost three of its five home games at its newly renovated stadium, limping to a 1-4 spread record in the process. Since beating UCLA 43-17 at home and winning 31-17 at Washington St, Cal has dropped back-to-back contests in blowout fashion.

Stanford went into Memorial Stadium and captured a 21-3 win as a one-point road ‘chalk.’ Then last week, Cal lost 49-27 at Utah as a 1 ½-point road underdog.

Cal actually out-yarded the Utes 441-344 in total offense, but Utah won the turnover battle 3-1. Zach Maynard threw for 288 yards and a pair of touchdowns compared to one interception.

For the season, Maynard has connected on 61.8 percent of his passes for 2,048 yards with a 12/9 TD-INT ratio. He also has three rushing scores.

Maynard’s favorite target has been Keenan Allen, who has 60 receptions for 739 yards and six touchdowns. However, Allen is ‘out’ tonight after sustaining a knee injury in last week’s loss at Utah.

C.J. Anderson and Isi Sofele split the rushing load for the Bears, combining for 989 rushing yards and six TDs.

In addition to Allen, Cal could be without three other starters. WR Bryce Treggs (21 catches, 217 yards, 1 TD), LB Chris McCain and CB Mark Anthony are all listed as ‘questionable.’

Cal has thrived as a home favorite during Tedford’s 11-year tenure, compiling a 32-20 spread record. Meanwhile, Washington has limped to a 6-11 spread record as a road ‘dog under Sarkisian.

Washington has won three in a row both SU and ATS in this head-to-head rivalry against Cal. The ‘under’ has cashed in each of those three contests, including last year’s 31-23 Washington victory as a one-point home favorite that had a total of 58.

The ‘under’ is 5-3 overall for the Bears, 3-1 in their home games. The ‘under’ is 5-2 overall for the Huskies, but the ‘over’ is 2-1 in their road assignments.

Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.

B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets

Washington is 5-1 ATS in the last six head-to-head meetings against Cal.

Although the ‘under’ has cashed in the last three encounters, the ‘over’ hit in the six previous Cal-UW meetings.

Iowa St. senior linebacker Jake Knott is out for the rest of the season after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery Monday. Knott, who is the sixth-leading tackler in Cyclones football history, suffered a tear in his left shoulder in a 31-10 loss at Oklahoma St. two weeks ago. Following the diagnosis, Knott requested to play one last time before surgery. The doctors gave their blessing as long as Knott didn’t take any pain-killing injections. He didn’t and made 11 tackles and had one forced fumble in last week’s 35-21 win over Baylor. The Cyclones won’t be the same without their inspirational leader when they take the field Saturday vs. Oklahoma as 12-point home underdogs.

Florida junior wide receiver Solomon Patton is out for the season after breaking the humerus bone in his left arm during a 17-9 loss vs. Georgia. Patton had only one reception for 17 yards this season but he rushed for 140 yards on 14 carries, mostly on jet sweeps after being put in motion in Brent Pease’s offense. Patton had a 54-yard run on a fake punt in a 31-17 win at Vanderbilt.

Since 1995, Vanderbilt has been a road favorite vs. an SEC opponent just five times. The Commodores are 0-5 ATS in those games with only one outright win, an 11-10 victory at South Carolina in 1999. Vandy is favored by seven Saturday at Kentucky.

With last night's 30-12 loss at Miami, Va. Tech fell to 4-5 on the season. The Hokies haven't lost five games in a season since going 8-5 in 2003.