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According to the Wynn in Las Vegas, Colorado has opened as five point underdogs to the California Golden Bears next Saturday at 1:30pm. It will be the first home game for the Buffs in the 2011 season. Cal is coming off an impressive victory over Fresno State 36-21 in their season opener. The game was played at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Bears gained 413 yards on offense while holding the Bulldogs to just 210 yards. The Bears return two stellar wide receivers in Marvin Jones and Keenan Allen. Jones had 5 catches for 118 and two scores against Fresno while Keenan Allen had 8 receptions for 112 yards. The Cal defense held Fresno State to only convert two of its 14 third-down attempt and registered six sacks.
In his first game as the starting Cal quarterback, Zach Maynard recovered after throwing an interception in his first pass of the game to lead the Bears to touchdown drives on the next three consecutive drives. Maynard finished the day completing 16 of 35 passes for 266 yards two touchdowns. He also rushed five times for 53 yards.
The Buffs lost their season opener on the road against Hawaii 34-17. The loss was Colorado's 19th straight on the road.
Last season, Cal beat CU in Berkeley 52-7. Colorado scored its first points with 2:37 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Bears defense recorded six sacks while forcing Colorado into five turnovers on the day, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Cal has a great home record at Memorial Stadium but has struggled on the road in the past. The Bears beat Washington St. in their road finale last season which snapped a six-game losing streak away from Berkeley which dated back to the 2009 season.
In addition to the five turnovers last season, Colorado was also flagged for nine penalties and yielded six sacks. Against Hawaii this past Saturday, the Buffs also had problems protecting the quarterback giving up seven sacks.
Although Cal is a fellow Pac-12 conference member, this game is considered a non-conference game since it was on the schedule before the move to the new conference.