The line on this one has been shrinking all week. It opened at three points and it is now down to only one on the eve of the game. Obviously the health of QB Keith Price and a leaky Washington defense are not inspiring the confidence of the folks who bet on college football for a living.
I am going to come out right away and say that I think that Washington is going to win this football game. California does not play well on the road and they tend to play even worse in Husky stadium for some reason. I think this trend which was interrupted briefly during the past decade will continue and Washington will be the victor on Saturday.
What about the Husky defense you ask?
I think they are going to bounce back big time from that terrible performance against Nebraska. This squad has been very resilient since Sark and Holt took over. More often than not this program shows improvement week to week. I don't see that changing. I expect the Husky defense to redeem itself against Cal.
This is going to be a close hard fought contest. Cal has been impressive so far this season but I don't think they did themselves any favors by playing Presbyterian last week. I think the battle tested Huskies are going to hit the field with a good head of steam. I think they are going to play faster than Cal and come out and hit them right in the mouth.
I pick the Huskies to win because they are starting to really click on offense. Cal has one of the better defenses in the conference but Washington has the play makers to handle it. Count on Price to toss 3-4 TD passes and for Chris Polk to run for over 125 yards.
Washington will win this one 31-24 and the media will spend next week writing about how great a defensive coach that Nick Holt has become under the span of only a few days.