Oregon vs. California Prediction & Odds
Number eight Oregon heads to Berkeley, CA to play California at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday. Can the Golden Bears cover the spread as 17-point home underdogs?
Oregon is 6-1 on the year, with their best wins coming over BYU and UCLA. Their only loss was against Georgia in Week 1. The Ducks are 5-2 ATS on the season.
California is 3-4 on the year with their best wins coming against UNLV and Arizona. Their worst losses were against Washington State and Colorado. The Golden Bears are 4-3 ATS on the year.
Game Matchup and Betting Odds
173 Oregon Ducks -17 at 174 California Golden Bears +17; O/U 58.5
3:30 PM ET Saturday, October 29th, 2022
California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CA
Oregon vs. California Public Betting Information
The public is favoring the Ducks in this game. Our CFB Public Betting Page shows that 62% of public bets are on Oregon -17. Do note that those numbers are subject to change and could be different once game time rolls around.
Oregon Game Notes
Oregon signal caller Bo Nix is having the best season of his college career. He’s thrown for 1,809 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions on 8.5 yards per attempt. He’s completed a career-high 71.5% of his passes and has a passer rating of 165.9, the 11th-best mark in the nation. Nix has also run for 382 yards and 8 touchdowns on the year. Saturday will be only his third true road game of the season, and it will be interesting to see how he plays away from Oregon’s Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks have three running backs who have scored a rushing touchdown and are averaging over 6 yards per carry: Bucky Irving, Noah Whittington, and Sean Dollars. Irving is the best of the bunch as he leads Oregon in carries (79) and rushing yards (536). Irving also has 13 catches for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns on the year. He’ll face a surprisingly stout Cal run defense that is only giving up 3.6 yards per rushing attempt, which ranks 26th in the nation.
California Game Notes
California’s best offensive player is running back Jaydn Ott. Ott leads the team in rushing attempts (103), rushing yards (618), and rushing touchdowns (5). He’s averaging 6.0 yards per carry on the year. In the Golden Bears’ lone conference win against Arizona Jaydn Ott ran for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns. He probably won’t replicate that type of production against Oregon but if he can get near 100 yards on 15 or so carries, Cal could cover the 17-point spread.
Senior linebacker Jackson Sirmon is the leader of the Golden Bears’ defense. He is third in the Pac-12 with 63 total tackles. Sirmon has also recorded 1.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, an interception, and a forced fumble on the season. He will be integral to slowing down Oregon’s spread rushing offense on Saturday.
Oregon vs. California Betting Trends
Oregon is 1-6 ATS against teams with a losing record.
California is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following an outright loss.
California is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games.
California is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after gaining less than 100 rushing yards in their previous game.
Oregon vs. California Betting Prediction
Oregon may seem like the obvious pick here as they’ve won 6 games in a row while scoring over 40 points in every contest. But the location of this game is the key. Oregon is only 1-2 against the spread on the road or at a neutral site this season. They needed 29 fourth-quarter points to beat Washington State on the road, a team that currently sits at 7th in the Pac-12 standings. Oregon seems to be a different team away from home, and I’m not sure they can win by more than three scores in a difficult road test such as this one. I’ll fade the public and take Cal and the points.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 9 PREDICTION: CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS +17