Thursday, May 17th, 2012
The USC Trojans will travel north to face the California Golden Bears in a key Pac 10 conference football contest Saturday night in prime time. Kick off time in California is set for 8PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by ABC. The LVSC college football odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the USC Trojans opened as 4-point favorites. The early money from the college football sports bettors has come in on the favorite, as the USC Trojans are currently a 5-point favorite. The total is currently lined at 47 ½ for the college football bettors to play into. College football money line bettors can make a play on the favored USC Trojans at –215 with the underdog California Golden Bears returning +185 to win without the need for getting points.
USC Trojans starting freshman quarterback Matt Barkely returned to the lineup last week for the Trojans after missing the Washington game due to injury. Barkely hit on 13 of 22 for 247 yards two touchdowns and no interceptions last week in the Trojans 27-6 victory last week against the Washington St Cougars. Trojans senior running back Stafon Johnson will miss the game after crushing his windpipe and voice box in a weight lifting accident this week. The Trojans have good depth in their running back position with Joe McNight the leading ball carrier with 354 yards on 47 attempts four touchdowns and 7.5 yards per gain average. Backing up Johnson is Allen Bradford who has 8.1 yards per carry average in 16 carries. Full back Stanley Havili is gaining 8.1 yards per carry. USC has been good on defense this season limiting teams to an average of 10 points per game this season. The Trojans defense is stingy against the run as they are allowing opposing running backs to average just 1.7 yards per rush. California star running back Jahvid Best is looking to improve off a 55-yard performance on 16 carries last week in the team’s 42-3 loss at Oregon last week. Best was ineffective against the USC defense last year rushing for 30 yards on 13 carries for just a 2.3 yards per carry average. Golden Bears starting quarterback Kevin Riley is hitting on 57% of his passes this season with five touchdowns and no interceptions on the season. Riley is looking to rebound after a 38% passing performance last week at Oregon. Cal’s defense failed a big test against the speed of Oregon and the Ducks 524 yards of total offense. Against Minnesota the Golden Bears allowed the Gophers to come back from a 14-point deficit in the second half to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
For the Latest CFB Odds Please Visit our CFB Odds Page
CFB Trend: The under is 5-0 in their past 5 meetings
The Wagerline consensus has 50.9% of the CFB bettors on USC -5
The Wagerline consensus has 71.0% of the CFB bettors playing over 47 1/2
Tags: college football betting odds, usc trojans versus california golden bears college football betting odds preview
