After pulling off a last-second escape against Virginia Tech last week, Miami looks to remain undefeated in a rare trip to California. the Hurricanes will play their sixth game ever in California and first in the regular season since a 52-24 win at Cal in 1990.

Corners Ja’ir Smith and Lu-Magia Hearns III are the two primary players in slot coverage, and both have struggled. Smith has a 58.1 coverage grade (per PFF ), while Hearns is at 53.6. Restrepo has exceeded 90 receiving yards in six of his last eight games and forecasts for another successful day at the office.

The Hurricanes have their best start since winning the first 10 games of the 2017 season as they make a cross-country trip face the Bears, who are playing their first ACC home game.

Cal has spent most of the past 15 seasons on the fringes of big-time college football. The Golden Bears have had little success on the field and failed to generate much interest off of it.

The Miami Hurricanes are favored to prevail by a comfortable margin vs. the California Golden Bears, and our early NCAAF betting picks see no reason to fade them in a game that should feature lots of scoring.

Saturday, 10:30 p.m., ESPN. Latest line: Miami is favored by 10 1/2 points. Adam Lichtenstein, Hurricanes Writer: Miami 35, California 17. T

Miami survived a wild finish to edge Virginia Tech last week and has positioned itself at the front of the league title chase along with No. 15 Clemson. That has come behind star quarterback Cam Ward, who leads the Bowl Subdivision ranks with 18 touchdown passes while ranking third nationally in passing offense (356.4).