Duke (3-2, 2-0) travels for the second game in a row to take on California (4-1, 1-0) in Berkeley on Saturday at 10:30 pm EDT. Television coverage provided by ESPN. The Blue Devils are favored by 2.5 points.
The last meeting between the teams ended in a 22-22 tie on October 12, 1963.
Injury Update: Cal announced defensive back Isaiah Crosby and linebacker Ryan McCulloch are out for the season. Both are starters who were injured in the San Diego State game.
Duke linebacker Kendall Johnson will miss another week but should be back available for the Georgia Tech game after Duke’s bye week. Running back Jaquez Moore is day-to-day.
Offense: The Golden Bears offense is centered around dynamic, freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele also known as JKS. Duke Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Patke discussed the Cal offense and JKS during media availability on Monday stating, “He’s a really talented quarterback. He has good arm strength, unique release, he can change his arm angle, he can throw off his back foot, he can push the ball down the field. Great timing, great trust in his wideouts. He has some big tall wide receivers. He is going to give them a chance to make a play. Then he has a dynamic slot receiver that they do a good job of getting open. They move him all over the field. It is going to be a challenge. He’s a really, really good player.”
JKS passing statistics are 110/178 for 1,242 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He is mobile and able to throw from both in the pocket and while on the move. Mobile quarterbacks have given Duke fits in past games so the aggressive Blue Devils defense must be prepared to contain JKS when he decides to move out of the pocket. JKS is left-handed and prefers to roll to the left.
Cal has four receivers with double digit receptions led by Trond Grizzell with 20 receptions for 344 yards and one touchdown. Slot receiver Jacob De Jesus has 28 receptions for 245 yards and two touchdowns, tight end Mason Mini has 23 receptions for 223 yards and three touchdowns and Mark Hamper has 13 receptions for 167 yards.
De Jesus is also a talented return man. He averages 23.3 yards per kick return and 13.4 yards per punt return. He is number 10 in the ACC in All Purpose Yards at 105 yards per game.
The Golden Bears rushing attack is led by Kendrick Raphael who averages 4.6 yards per carry. He has rushed for 347 yards and two touchdowns.
Defense: The Cal Golden Bears have a stout defense which is ranked number two in the ACC in Scoring Defense at 18 points per game. Their defense is number three in Rushing Defense (111.4 ypg); number five in Passing Defense (195.8 ypg); number four in Total Defense (307.2 ypg). This game will be a match up featuring strength versus strength, Cal’s strong defense versus Duke’s potent offense, which averages 471.8 yards and 34.8 points per game.
Cal’s leading tackler is linebacker Cade Uluave with 40. Uluave is sixth in the ACC with five TFL. Defensive back Hezekiah Masses leads the ACC with four intercepted passes.
Prediction: Duke extends its winning streak to three games to improve to 3-0 in ACC play: Duke 26, Cal 24.
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