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Clemson Tigers at California Golden Bears (Friday – 10:30pm ET)
This is my favorite spot of the weekend. Clemson was pretty rude to us last Saturday. With a chance to slide down and seal a 21-20 comeback victory over North Carolina, the Tigers ran one all the way to the house to go up 28-20, which was the eventual final score. I backed under 44.5 and Clemson’s team total under 23.5. Both plays lost as a result of the silly late touchdown — a first down wins the game, a touchdown leaves the door open for UNC to tie the game at 28.
It was a strange afternoon all the way around in Death Valley. Clemson was trailing 17-3, but mounted an impressive comeback. The game also mixed in a two and a half hour lightning delay in the fourth quarter. When it was all said and done, the Tigers took nearly six hours to defeat the Tar Heels in extremely fortunate fashion.
While Clemson did figure things out late, it’s impossible to forget how dreadful it looked early … again. Now, Dabo Swinney and company have to go out on a west coast trip to play at 10:30pm ET on a short week. Not exactly the ideal spot for a Friday night road game across the country.
So has Clemson made one of these west coast trips since the ACC expanded? Nope. In fact, Swinney hasn’t even traveled this far for a road game during his tenure. Excluding the 2018 National Championship in which the Tigers defeated Alabama, the Tigers haven’t traveled to the west coast since the 60’s — a 30-0 loss to USC, if you care. Clemson also hasn’t had a kickoff time this late in decades — the last 10:30pm ET or later kick for the Tigers came in the 70’s.
Cal was home last week and got an easy 49-7 win over Wagner. The Golden Bears have likely been preparing for Clemson for two weeks. Dabo was focused on Bill Belichick last week, and now turns to focus on Cal with short prep time. Cal will have a massive QB advantage in this one, with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele going up against a freshman that will be making his first road start.
While Clemson’s defense looked good in the second half against UNC, it was shredded in the first two quarters of the game. It was also annihilated in the season opener at LSU. Not that this Cal offense is LSU, but it should certainly be better that UNC. The Cal defense is nothing special, but as I’ve started all season, I have zero faith in the Clemson offense. I expect it to struggle in a tough road environment.
Cal should be hyped up for this one. Meanwhile, Clemson will be fighting against the short week, long travel, all while coming off a big comeback win at home that took nearly six hours. On top of simply not being all that good. Oh, and Clemson could be looking ahead to hosting Miami the following Saturday. Perfect spot to back the Golden Bears on Friday night.
CFB Pick: Cal ML (-108)
