College Football: California Bears vs Oregon Ducks Sports Betting Guide

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PAC-12 North play officially gets underway Saturday night in Eugene as the California Bears travel to take on the 13th ranked Oregon Ducks. The Bears were the last undefeated team in the conference before last week’s stumble at home against Arizona State, a 17-24 home loss on Friday night. Oregon, on the other hand, has played well since dropping their opening game against Auburn but will need to finish the season perfectly and get some outside help if they want to be in the College Football playoff conversation as hoped. In what will be the standalone prime-time game on FOX, let’s take a deeper look at this divisional matchup to see where we can find an edge.

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California Bears @ Oregon Ducks

Saturday, October 5th, 2019 – 8:00 pm EST
Oregon -18, O/U 46 (via PointsBet)

While the loss of starting quarterback Chase Garbers in the first half of Friday’s loss was the talking point as to why they lost, this Bears’ defense had a dismal outing. Sun Devil quarterback Jayden Daniels had his way with this alleged top defense, with ASU tallying 365 yards of total offense and 19 first downs. While it would’ve been hard to keep up with 2018-level production, this Bears’ defense, in general, has regressed this season. Through their first five games, California ranks 55th nationally in yards allowed per game (366.2) and 36th in yards per play (4.91). In Garbers’ absence, the quarterback job now gets handed to UCLA transfer Devon Modster who struggled in his fill-in role on Friday night. With a full week to prepare, however, I expect the Bears’ coaching staff to roll out a game plan that Modster can handle. In his short stint at UCLA, where he backed up Josh Rosen, Modster played well throwing for 671 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert continues to play well behind arguably the best offensive line in the country as he enters this contest with 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also ranks eighth in the FBS in completion percentage at 74.4%. In the Ducks last time out, they beat Stanford for the first time in four attempts with Herbert throwing the Ducks’ only three scores. Oregon is now coming off of a bye week and knows they have little room for error down the stretch if they want to be in the committee’s conversation come December, and I expect them to play accordingly. While Herbert has played well, the running game has yet to get going. Through four games, this Ducks’ rushing attack has just 619 yards on the ground which ranks them 85th in FBS. Sophomore running back CJ Verdell leads the way for the Ducks with 231 yards and two touchdowns, but none since Week 2’s game against Nevada.

Bottom Line?

Even at full strength, this Cal offense has struggled to this point in the season and ranks 108th in the FBS in yards per game at 346. The schedule has cut them no favors, having already played on the road at Washington and Ole Miss, both gritty wins where they leaned heavily on their defense while their offense has scored just 23 points per game. Oregon comes into this contest off of a bye and knows they not only need to win out down the stretch but put up some statement wins as well. Over their last five, Oregon is 4-1 ATS and once again has the better quarterback, offensive line, defense, and just overall talent. While I give the coaching edge to the Bears, there are too many indicators pointing in the Ducks’ direction for them not to win big in this spot.

Pick: Oregon -18

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