USC-Oregon St., Stanford-Washington, and More Highlight Vegas Pac 12 Predictions for Week 5
Saturday Blitz Vegas Pac 12 Predictions Week 5
Colorado Buffaloes at California Golden Bears
Line: California by 14
This is a fight between two teams trying to make a jump this season after a losing season last year. Colorado looked like it was in for a long season after an opening game loss to Colorado State, but after beating UMASS, not getting blown out by Arizona State, and then taking control against Hawaii, this team is 2-2 and has some momentum. Colorado’s rush defense has been a problem so far this year, but luckily, going up against a passing team, the Buffaloes have a decent enough secondary to handle that. They’ll want to simply play a balanced defense due to that. The offense, meanwhile, will want to turn to Sefo Liufau to put up points against a weak Cal secondary. If they throw the ball around on Saturday and Liufau doesn’t turn the ball over, this could be an upset.
Cal, meanwhile, will need to have a more balanced attack on offense. They have a good passing game, but Colorado has a great passing defense, so they’ll need to get the running game going from that perspective. But it’s also crucial to get the running game going so they can mount a few long drives and keep that questionable defense off the field. Colorado may have only had 21 points against Hawaii, but Liufau can throw the ball around the field, as he did two weeks ago against Arizona State. The last thing Cal wants to do is to force its defense to win the game. They couldn’t even do that last week when all they had to do was stop a Hail Mary and not give up 36 points in a quarter.
Prediction
Cal is gaining a lot of respect due to the fact that they should be 3-0 right now after almost beating Arizona, but it’s fool’s gold. The Golden Bears caught the Wildcats off guard for three quarters before Arizona woke up and dropped a bunch of points in the fourth quarter. Colorado, meanwhile, has improved every game. This is an upset call here. Colorado will stun Cal in Berkeley this weekend because it will take the Golden Bears seriously for the entire game, and the passing game will put up too many points for Cal to keep up.
Colorado: 34 California: 28