The California Golden Bears are a mess. Only a few seasons ago, things were looking good in Berkeley with Sonny Dykes calling the shots and Jared Goff at quarterback. However, things have changed drastically in a short amount of time. Dykes repeatedly clashed with the administration about the school’s commitment to football and ended up getting fired after repeatedly flirting with other schools. Justin Wilcox is the new sheriff in town and he has his work cut out for him. He has to groom a new quarterback and fix a dumpster fire of a defense and will be tested immediately. The Golden Bears travel to face the North Carolina Tar Heels in their season opener.
This contest in Week 1 of the regular season will go down Saturday, September 2, 2017, at 12:20
p.m. ET at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
California +11
North Carolina -11
Over/Under 54
Odds Analysis
North Carolina lost three of its last four to end last season after a very strong start. That cost the Tar Heels a chance to contend for the ACC Championship for the second straight season. Even though the team had the first quarterback selected in last year’s draft, this offense struggled to score points at the tail end of the year. UNC saw the under cash in eight of its last nine games on the season.
This Cal team lost each of its five road games in 2016 and had diminishing returns in those games as the season progressed. The Golden Bears only covered their first road game and then failed to get the cover in each of their last four. Over was the right side in eight of Cal’s 12 games last season as this defense really took a nosedive last year.
Matchup to Watch
Both teams will have a new quarterback this season and both of these offenses rely heavily on that position.
For Cal, Ross Bowers will be the starter for the first game of the season. Bowers won the quarterback battle this offseason and Wilcox gave the young signal caller a vote of confidence by announcing that he doesn’t plan to have other quarterbacks play. Wilcox will have Bowers run a more pro-style attack and the young QB will be able to rely on what should be an improved running game.
Larry Fedora has kept everyone in the dark about his plans for the position in this game. Fedora hasn’t announced a starter yet and plans to wait until the day of the game to name his guy. He intends to play two to four quarterbacks depending on how the game goes. Brandon Harris and Chazz Surratt are the two quarterbacks that should see the most time. Harris is a grad transfer from LSU that is more of a runner, but Surratt seems like the quarterback of the future after the highly rated recruit redshirted last year.
Key Stat
Cal’s defense was just awful in 2016. The Golden Bears gave up 42.6 points per game and allowed over 500 yards of offense. The run defense was particularly bad as opponents were able to run for a stunning 6.2 YPC against them last season.
That unit should be better with more experience in 2017. Former Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter was hired to be the team’s defensive coordinator and has eight returning starters from last year’s team.
Free ATS Pick
These two teams have never met before in this battle between the two schools that have had the highest drafted quarterback in each of the last two drafts. We’re going to go with North Carolina here. The Tar Heels have been very good under Fedora the last two seasons and although there are defensive concerns after the retirement of DC Gene Chizik, the unit should be miles better than Cal.
College Football Odds: Tar Heels 41, Golden Bears 27
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