Vegas opens with Cal as 18-point underdogs to Utah

California is sitting at 4–3, which includes a 1–3 conference mark and a three-game losing streak. Things are much rosier for the Utes, who are 6–1 (3–1 in conference and 4–0 at home) with their one loss being by one score and riding a three-game run of blowouts. Our teams are trending in different directions and Vegas’s opening line certainly reflects that.

Vegas opens with the Utes favored by 18 points and an over/under of 38.5 points, meaning they’re roughly predicting a 28–10 win for the Utes. If this were to happen, it would be the first time we allow an opponent to score more than 24 points since the abysmal 37–3 UC L.A. game on October 13, 2018.

If you believe in the transitive property, then there’s even more reason for you to be shaking in your boots for this game. Cal and Utah have both played the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Oregon State Beavers in this past month. Cal lost both of these games by a combined score of 45–34. Utah not only won their games, but they demolished the opposition to the tune of 73–10.

The California Golden Bears haven’t played the Utah Utes very much historically—just 11 times and the Bears have a 6–5 all-time record; our last game was an incredible goal-line stand by a Sonny Dykes defense in 2016 to hold onto a 28–23 win.

The odds are certainly stacked against us, but let’s hope that one assessment of our team is true—that we can lose any game, but we can also win any game.