BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Duke quarterback Darian Mensah passed for 265 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Blue Devils rally and beat California 45-21 on Saturday night.
Que’Sean Brown caught six passes
for a career-high 104 yards and a touchdown, helping Duke (4-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) to the win on its first trip to Memorial Stadium since 1963.
Nate Sheppard and Anderson Castle each ran for two touchdowns, while Jaquez Moore also had a rushing touchdown as the Blue Devils won their third straight.
Trailing 14-0 midway through the first quarter, Mensah engineered four consecutive scoring drives to give Duke control.
Castle scored on a pair of short scoring runs, and Mensah threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brown before guiding another late drive to set up Todd Pelino’s 25-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
Mensah threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Barkate in the second half.
Duke’s defense had three interceptions and six sacks.
California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutete passed for 245 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown.
The Bears (4-2, 1-1) have lost two of three.
Duke: Mensah was sharp and had the Blue Devils’ up-tempo offense humming in the second quarter when they scored three touchdowns in a span of 6 ½ minutes against a defense that had been allowing an average of 18 points per game.
California: Sagapolutele’s accuracy and poise as a true freshman stands out every week but the Bears were unable to do much on the ground, allowing Duke’s defense to focus on stopping the passing game.
Duke: Hosts No. 17 Georgia Tech on Nov. 15.
California: Hosts North Carolina on Oct. 17.
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