Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0 SU, 1-1 ATS) vs. California Golden Bears (1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS)
College Football Week 3
Date/Time: Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 7PM EST
Where: Memorial Stadium Cal, Berkeley, California
TV: Fox
By Loot, NCAA Football Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Point Spread: OSU -15/Cal +15
Over/Under Total: 59
Bet your Ohio St./California pick at an online sportsbook where your credit card WILL work and where you'll receive a free $100 bet after making your first deposit: Sportsbook.
On Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes look to continue their undefeated path as they make the long trip to Berkeley to face the 1-1 Cal Golden Bears. The Buckeyes looked good on Saturday, covering a big spread against the hapless Aztecs of San Diego State. It still remains to be seen if Braxton Miller will play after hurting his knee in the first quarter, which kept him out of the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears look to continue their rebuilding process after a too-close-for comfort win over 31-point underdogs Portland State on Saturday, a game they were losing in the third quarter.
Truth be told, the Buckeyes don’t need to be at full-power to beat the Golden Bears. And it’s not like they’re going to fall apart without Miller, as senior QB Kenny Guiton has filled in pretty well whenever called upon. That’s not meant as a ding against a Cal team that is actually headed in the right direction. There are a lot of good things in place for the Golden Bears that point toward a successful rebuilding process. It’s just that the process is in its early stages and there are going to be growing pains.
Look for Cal coach Sonny Dykes to get things headed in the right direction. He pumped some life into Louisiana Tech’s program and had them averaging 51.5 points per game last season. It’s just that it will happen eventually. Dykes doesn’t have all his guys in there yet and lost a lot of valuable manpower from last year’s team. Still, he has a talented freshman quarterback in Jared Goff to work with for the next several years and this is a team to watch out for in the future.
The question for the purposes of betting on this game is where is Cal now? Well, as of now, they’re a team that gives up 44 points to Northwestern at home and needs a second-half comeback to beat Portland State. That might not be as bad as it looks on paper. Northwestern is an overlooked team that is actually pretty darned good and we’ve already seen a lot of FCS teams like Portland State beat FBS teams this season. At least Cal won. They might not be quite as bad as the face value of the results indicate. But make no mistake, they are up against it with Ohio State.
DEPOSIT $500 AND GET $250 FREE AT BOVADA SPORTSBOOK
Ohio State hasn’t really been tested yet. They thumped an outmanned Buffalo team, before smoking the Aztecs this past Saturday. The way Buffalo came back from a 23-0 deficit to make it 30-20 late in the third quarter was a little disconcerting. After all, Ohio State is going to be needing to cover a lot of big spreads this season with their easy schedule. Against San Diego State, they took care of business, but did so against a team that has begun the 2013 season looking like absolute garbage.
For whatever it’s worth, Cal covered the spread in last year’s game with Ohio State--battling hard to lose by only 7 on the road. Now Ohio State has to come all the way to Berkeley and win by a ton more than that. They face the problem of having an injured quarterback and are facing a team that has the ability to move the ball. Goff has thrown for an incredible 930 yards in his first two games. Throwing for 445 and 485 yards against Northwestern and Portland State, respectively, don’t mean all that much when about to face a team like Ohio State, but it’s good to see coach Dykes has already incorporated some of the high-flying style he is known for.
It will be interesting how Ohio State deals with their injured quarterback. There are tougher games coming up as Ohio State gets into conference play and they will want Miller at full-strength. Guiton is a really good backup who has acquitted himself well in his appearances. Will it even make that much difference against Cal? Couldn’t Guiton be put in there and Ohio won’t miss a step? Obviously, there’s a reason why Miller is starting and one shouldn’t question Urban Meyer having him as the starter. It’s just that the difference in quality between the two quarterbacks isn’t gigantic. As of this writing, Miller is listed as day-to-day and hasn’t been ruled out, so we’ll see how it shakes out.
Cal’s Sonny Dykes isn’t a defensively-oriented guy, but Cal has an institutionalized knack of being stingy at home when you least suspect it. Just because they gave up 30 to Portland State at home last week doesn’t mean Ohio State is going to go for 60 points. It makes sense, but it seldom works out as simply as that. Cal should be tough at home, but this is Ohio State. It’s a national contender facing a lower-end Pac-12 school, so one shouldn’t be too surprised if Ohio State dishes out a beating.
Loot's Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Take the Ohio State Buckeyes giving 15 points. I'm not a huge fan of buying points, but I'd surely consider spending an extra few bucks to move the point spread to 2 scores (14). This will likely change your lay from -110 to -130. This is also a great wager to throw into a teaser.
