PAC-12: California vs Arizona 9/24/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Cal Golden Bears and Arizona Wildcats do battle Saturday in week 4 PAC-12 college football action at California Memorial Stadium. The Arizona Wildcats look to build on their 2-1 record. The Cal Golden Bears also look to get off to a 3-1 start.

The Arizona Wildcats have lost 5 of their last 6 road games. Jayden de Laura is completing 60.2 percent of his passes for 748 yards, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Jacob Cowing and Dorian Singer have combined for 437 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, while Tetairoa McMillan has 8 receptions. The Arizona Wildcats ground game is averaging 131.3 yards per contest, and Michael Wiley leads the way with 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensively, Arizona is allowing 29 points and 355 yards per game. Jerry Roberts leads the Arizona Wildcats with 31 tackles, Hunter Echols has 2 sacks and Jaxen Turner has 1 interception.

The Cal Golden Bears have won their last 5 home games. Jack Plummer is completing 60.4 percent of his passes for 730 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Jeremiah Hunter and J. Michael Sturdivant have combined for 388 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns, while Mavin Anderson has 11 receptions. The Cal Golden Bears ground game is averaging 117 yards per contest, and Jaydn Ott leads the way with 189 yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, Cal is allowing 17 points and 331 yards per game. Jackson Sirmon leads the Cal Golden Bears with 32 tackles, Xavier Carlton has 2.5 sacks and Craig Woodson has 1 interception.

The Wildcats are 9-24 ATS in their last 33 road games and 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games on fieldturf. The Golden Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The over is 4-1-1 in Wildcats last 6 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Golden Bears last 5 games overall. The Wildcats are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 meetings in California and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 meetings.

The Arizona Wildcats have a ways to go offensively, and their run defense isn’t a good recipe for success on the road. The California Golden Bears have been one of the better home teams in the PAC-12 dating back to last season, and their effort against Notre Dame was respectable enough to assume they’re going to be a decent team this year. At home, I’ll lay the reasonable chalk with Cal. Arizona has things to improve, mainly its run defense, before it can be backed on the road.