Football on the west coast as the Northwestern Wildcats travel to Berkley, California to tangled with the California Golden Bears. Vegas Odds have Northwestern listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 61.
Analysis: Northwestern had one of their best years ever in 2012, going 10-3, which included a win over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl. This year 15 starters are back and they are thinking about DD wins once again. The Cats use a two-headed QB combo and both starters are back in Trevor Siemian and Kain Colter. Colter was their 2nd best rusher on the team, but the also Cats return their top two Rb's in Venrick Mark (1366 yards and 12 TD's) and Mike Trumpy (349 yards and 3 TD's). The defense has 7 starters back, including Big 10 Sack leader Tyler Scott (9). Tyler helps for what Phil Steele calls is the 2nd best DL in the league. Also back is leading tackler Damien Proby, who had 112 tackles last year and he helps form a decent LB corps. Last year the secondary was not good at all and this year year they will be below average again. The Wildcats are opening their season on the road against a BCS-conference foe for the fourth straight season, and they were victorious in each of the past three tries.
The Sonny Dykes era begins in California, now that Jeff Tedford is gone. Sonny, though doesn't really step into a great situation as just 11 starters are back and last year's QB Zach Maynard is gone. The QB duties will fall into the hands of redshirt freshman Zach Kline, who was rated as the #4 QB coming out of high school by Phil Steele. Even with a young QB, the Bears may get their best play at that position in years, especially with the offensive minded Dykes at the helm. The WR corp is solid with Chris Harper, Bryce Treggs and TE Richard Rodgers, but the running game took some hits with the loss of their top 2 RB's from last year. Brendan Bigelow will take over at the RB spot after gaining 431 yards last year, but they still need another back to step up and help out. Last year's defense was horrible, allowing 33.1 ppg and 441 ypg and even with 6 starters back this year, they may not be all that improved. The defense is switching to a 4-3 this year and that will put more pressure on a DL that has 3 starters back from last year including Sr Deandre Coleman, who had 5.5 TFL and 3 sacks. Dykes is a very good coach, but he needs some time to get his own payers in there.
Pick: Going to go with the Wildcats in this nationally televised game. Northwestern has a plethora of talent on both sides of the ball and they actually have a shot at challenging in the Legends division of the Big 10. The 2 headed QB duo will pose fits for a weak California defense. On the other side, sonny Dykes is used to putting up big numbers on offense, but that will have to wait at least a year as he just dont have the skill players or QB to implement his high powered attack just yet. Also doesn't help that in inexperienced OL will be going up against one of the best DL's in the Big 10. The Cats want to show everyone that they are for real, and they will with a nice DD win on the left coast in this one.
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College Football Free Picks: BYU at Virginia Betting
What college football bettors need to know about BYU Cougars at Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday (8/31/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Ken Thomson, with host Marco D'Angelo.