Cal’s new Air Raid offense proved effective last week at North Texas in a 58-21 win amassing 669 yards of offense. New OC Jake Spavital promised an offensive balance and had 357 rushing yards and 312 yards of passing behind new QB Ben Finley. But the star of the game was RB Jaydin Ott with 192 yards rushing off 20 carries behind a cohesive offensive line. Cal is one of five schools to return all five starting linemen from last season. I took the points with Cal at home.

The Bears have improved significantly, with 16 returning starters compared to Auburn's 12. Cal coach Justin Wilcox has a career against-the-spread record of 36-24-1 with the Bears. Additionally, Cal has a good record (8-4 ATS) as an underdog and has gone 6-3 ATS in September over the past three seasons. By contrast, Auburn has struggled in September, with a 3-6 ATS record over the same period. Based on my Power Ratings, this spread should be closer to 4.5 points. Furthermore, Auburn will kick off with a body clock time of 10:30 p.m. ET. I like the home dog.