USC Trojans at California Golden Bears Preview and Pick

Opening Line: USC Trojans -5.5
8 PM ET Saturday October 3, 2009 on ABC

by Marasoft.com Staff

In an important, dare I say vital, Pac 10 game this Saturday night the USC Trojans head up the California coast to play the Cal Golden Bears. Not many would have predicted that each team would already have one loss already, but that is exactly how it is and each team lost a Pac 10 game. Each team had National Title and Pac 10 championship hopes this season, but the loser of this game may have those hopes dashed, as the loser will have 2 losses and both will be division loses.

Last week California was absolutely crushed by Oregon 42-3 while the Trojans stopped their one-game losing streak with a 27-6 win over the weak Washington State Cougars.

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The Trojans are led by freshman QB Matt Barkley (675 yds 3 TD 1 INT) and his main targets are Damian Williams (16 rec 258 yds 1 TD) and Anthony McCoy (7 rec 160 yds). The legit Trojans rushing attack is led by RB Joe McKnight (354 yds 4 TD), but the Trojans have several backs that can pick up big yards. 2nd leading rusher Stafon Johnson is out for this game and probably fro the rest of the season after a recent weight room accident The Golden Bears are led by QB Kevin Riley (821 yds 5 TD) and his main targets are Verran Tucker (9 rec 199 yds) and Marvin Jones (8 rec 118 yds 1 TD). The Golden Bears rushing attack is led by Heisman candidate RB Jahvid Best (467 yds 8 TD).

Can the Golden Bears regroup after getting demolished last week at Oregon? To do so they will have to contain a stellar Trojans rushing attack. The Bears do have a solid rush defense, but it did not show last week when Oregon ran all over them rushing for 236 yards. The Bears also have to hold onto the ball in this game, which they did not do last week with 3 turnovers.

The Trojans have to worry about containing Best, who is averaging 6.8 yards per carry. If they can contain Best and keep him from having a big game the Trojans should be in good shape. The secondary also has to keep QB Kevin Riley from making the big play, as the Bears have 6 players that are averaging over 10 yards per catch led by WR Verran Tucker, who is averaging 22.1 yards per catch.

This game is HUGE for both teams, but the team that can play some defense has a great chance to come out with a win. If the Bears play anything like they did last week they have no chance in this game against a Trojans team that is back on track after their shocking loss to Washington a couple weeks back.

The Marasoft Pick: California +5.5