Washington vs California Picks and Odds – Best Bets for Pac-12 After Dark

• Washington and California clash late Saturday night in Week 8 on October 22nd
• The Huskies are currently 7.5-point betting favorites over the Golden Bears in the CFB odds
• Read below for Washington vs California odds, spread and best bet for Week 8

This college football game after dark features California at home to take on the Washington Huskies in a Pac-12 game on Saturday, October 22. Kickoff is set for just after 10:30 PM ET at FTX Field (California Memorial Stadium), and the game will be live on ESPN. Now, California is trying to climb above .500 while Washington tries to get back in the Pac-12 conference race.

Washington is currently a 7.5-point betting favorite and the total is set at 55.5 for this contest. The Huskies are solid road favorites.

Let’s go deeper into the Washington vs California odds and offer you our best bets and predictions.

Washington vs California Odds

Odds as of October 20th at BetMGM. 

Washington is -300 on the moneyline in the college football odds, giving them 75% implied probability to win.

Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. Must Keep Offense Rolling

Washington predicates itself on the offense generated from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The Junior signal-caller has put up some Heisman Trophy-caliber numbers. Unfortunately, the defense of the Huskies is that of an FCS school at times. That has driven down his chances to win the award to almost zero. That being said, Penix Jr. comes off an amazing week against Arizona where he tossed four touchdowns and added 516 yards through the air. His ability to shred defenses has to scare California.

Simply, the Golden Bears do not have much clue what they are in for on Saturday night.

Week 7 Power 5 passing leaders:
🥇 Michael Penix Jr., Washington: 516 yards
🥈 Bryce Young, Alabama: 455 yards
🥉 Cameron Rising, Utah: 415 yards
🏅 Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma: 403 yards pic.twitter.com/PiZayiqVwf

— PlayerProfiler College (@Profiler_CFB) October 18, 2022

Fortunately for Washington and Penix Jr., the Huskies’ offense should be just fine this week against California. Cal gives up huge chunks of yardage and Arizona is kind of similar to Washington from an offensive standpoint. The Wildcats threw over 400 yards against the Golden Bears. Saturday night could easily feature a repeat. Washington’s rushing offense is not the greatest but again the pass could set up the run.

Also, it appears that the Huskies’ 1-2 punch at running back could cause some matchup problems for the Golden Bears. California does not have the personnel to slow down that kind of attack.

UW running back has been an interesting position since the coaching change with its twists and turns. Here's why Sam Adams II has made it work. https://t.co/0pddqovWag

— Washington Huskies on FanNation at SI.com (@UWFanNation) October 20, 2022

Now, the defense for Washington may be more of a work in progress. They gave up 45 points to Arizona State then 39 more to Arizona. That was after allowing 40 to UCLA. It is safe to say high-paced offenses with mobile quarterbacks give the Huskies some headaches.

The defense might have a chance of holding a little better this week. Jack Plummer has struggled the past two weeks against the likes of Colorado and Arizona State. That is never a good sign.

California Just Needs To Get A Win

Head coach Justin Wilcox should be a bit better in the conference but they are what they are. The Golden Bears are 1-2 in the conference and that includes losses to the aforementioned Arizona State and Colorado.

Yes, Jack Plummer and the offense have been “off” the past couple of weeks. Plummer has a pretty good running back in Jaydn Ott to hand off the ball. Ott has nearly 600 yards rushing on 6.5 yards per carry. Ott has seven touchdowns from scrimmage too (five rushing, two receiving). He is, by far, one of their most dynamic offensive threats.

Top-Graded @PFF Running Backs thru Week 7

86.2—Zach Charbonnet, UCLA
85.2—Bucky Irving, Oregon
82.2—Jaydn Ott, Cal
80.5—George Holani, BSU
80.4—Jonah Coleman, Arizona
79.0—Ashton Jeanty, BSU
78.9—Tavion Thomas, Utah
78.3—Travis Dye, USC

— SuperWest Sports (@SuperWestSports) October 17, 2022

This game comes down to getting the ball in Ott’s hands more often. He has to be in the 25+ touches neighborhood for the Golden Bears to have a chance at winning. Asking Jack Plummer to throw the ball 35+ times is dangerous. Now, if they can get the ball to WR Jeremiah Hunter more, that would help. Then again, Cal needs to control the clock, run to set up the pass, and then contain Michael Penix Jr. a bit. That will not be easy.

Cal’s preseason NCAAF win total of 5.5 is not on solid ground.

Washington vs California Prediction

Most pundits have Cal near the bottom of the Pac-12 but Washington lurking closer to the top.

Honestly, Washington’s defense is vulnerable enough for Cal to stay in this game.

Washington laying 7.5 points on the road looks like a lot. The safer bet is the over on Saturday night.

Picks: Over 55.5 (-110)