The Cal Golden Bears will play host to the USC Trojans on Thursday. USC is coming off of a bye week while the Golden Bears are coming off of back-to-back road losses. According to Odds Shark, Cal is a three-and-a-half point underdog in this game.
The line makes sense: Cal doesn't have a lot of positive momentum going into this game and USC has some fresh legs off of its bye week. If the Trojans catch fire with the Matt Barkley-Robert Woods tandem, Cal's secondary could be in for a long night.
Cal can put up some points too, but the team has struggled in recent weeks. Over the last two games, the Golden Bears have scored 19.0 points per game. Cal will need to get much closer to its 34.6 points-per-game season average to give themselves a shot at victory in this one.
The Trojans should have the edge to cover their three-and-a-half point spread, but Cal could play the role of spoiler with some loud fan noise and home field advantage. If the Golden Bears get off to a quick start on their home field, the Trojans may struggle to keep up and cover expectations.