USC vs Cal Odds And Picks – Best Bet for Pac-12 After Dark

• USC and Cal clash late on Saturday night in Week 10 on November 5th
• The Trojans are currently 21.5-point betting favorites over the Golden Bears in the CFB odds
• Read below for USC vs Cal odds, spread and predictions for Week 10

This Week 10 college football game after dark features the No. 9 USC Trojans at home to battle against Califronia Golden Bears in a Pac-12 clash on Saturday, November 5. Kickoff is set for just after 10:30 PM ET at Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, and the game will be live on ESPN.

USC is currently a 21.5-point betting favorite and the total is set at 60.5 for this contest. The Trojans are strong home favorites.

Let’s roll into these USC vs Cal odds and offer you our best bets and predictions.

USC vs Cal Odds

Odds as of November 4th at BetMGM Sportsbook. Get the Bet MGM promo code for CFB betting.

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USC is -1000 on the moneyline in the college football odds, giving them 90.9% implied probability to win.

USC’s Caleb Williams Should Follow Bo Nix’s Lead

USC’s Caleb Williams has done everything asked of him this season. The Sophomore quarterback may want to follow the model of Bo Nix from last week (aside from the two interceptions). Nix was able to use his legs to set up the pass. What resulted was a relatively easy 42-24 win for Oregon over Cal. The Golden Bears still have to play Utah yet but playing the second “Heisman” candidate in two weeks just illustrates their defensive deficiencies.

Bluntly, Williams needs to show the form from the last two weeks where he combined for 792 yards passing and ten touchdowns

The USC defense has given up 80 points and 1100 yards the last 2 games. Because of that, Lincoln was forced to keep foot on the gas pedal and Caleb Williams went for 800 yards and 10 TDs.

This is more what I expected from the Alex Grinch D when I projected Caleb as CFF QB1

— Nate Marchese (@CFFNate) November 4, 2022

Now, Williams has 24 touchdowns through the air and three more via the ground game. The young quarterback can run the ball when he wants to. However, the Cal defense may try to flush him out of the pocket. That may make things even worse. Williams has the mobility and arm strength to easily make the Golden Bears pay.

The Trojans’ 1-2 punch at wide receiver is better than most pundits give them credit for. This could create some headaches for Cal’s pedestrian defense. Jordan Addison and Mario Williams have the ability to be deep threats as well as break short passes into longer plays.

Jordan Addison: 81.8 PFF grade this season

Leads all Pac-12 Wide Receivers⚔️ pic.twitter.com/eEC3yTltYh

— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 4, 2022

USC’s defense was not very good last week again, the Trojans allowed 37 points and almost gave the game away in the second half again. Thankfully, Cal’s offense is a bit banged up with Jack Plummer and Kai Millner both playing last week.

The defense will be at home and should be able to play downhill football. USC should be able to jump ahead by double-digits over Cal early. Then, the question becomes can they maintain that momentum? Even at home, USC is 3-1 against the spread.

Cal Facing Second Half Uphill Battle

Head coach Justin Wilcox knows the game against USC is almost impossible to win. The Golden Bears are 1-4 in the Pac-12. Since beating Arizona by 18, Cal has lost four straight in the conference and arguably each week has become worse, not better.

Yes, Cal is just trying to win another game. If one is realistic, the Golden Bears’ most winnable game is in two weeks against Stanford. Every other week the team plays against a ranked opponent. That does not seem fair but this is how the schedule plays out.

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave confirmed Jack Plummer is on track to start Saturday at USC. Musgrave confirmed Plummer was struggling with a neck issue against Oregon, leading to some late Kai Millner snaps, but it's been getting better.

— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) November 1, 2022

This game breaks down pretty easily. Is Jack Plummer healthy? If he has any issues, Coach Wilcox should probably switch to Kai Millner sooner. However, it looks like the coaching staff’s stubbornness with Plummer arguably hurts the team. Cal has a hard enough time winning games. Their defense allowed 42 points to Oregon and might yield around 40 against USC. That is too many points for Cal to score but could they cover?

Cal’s preseason NCAAF win total of 5.5 is looking too high for the Golden Bears now.

USC vs Cal Prediction

Most pundits have USC, Utah, and Oregon as the best three teams in the Pac-12. USC’s next test will not be until they play UCLA later this month.

Honestly, USC’s defense is always vulnerable. The 37 points they gave up last weekend don’t bode well entering Saturday’s game.

USC giving up 21.5 points is again a bit much, but the scoreboard could get lit up late Saturday night. We like the “over” to connect in this edition of Pac-12 After Dark.

Pick: Over 60.5 (-110)