Duke starts slow then rolls past California 45-21

by | Oct 5, 2025 | Sports

BERKELEY, Calif. — 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.California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutete passed for 245 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown.“(The) team’s gotta grow up,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We have glimpses where we can play good football but it’s too much of a roller coaster.”The Bears (4-2, 1-1) have lost two of three.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.Popular ReadsDuke’s defense had three interceptions and six sacks.Duke: Mensah …

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