Did any of you watch the Duke left guard on offense? He was very, very good. Did not allow anyone even close to their qb and was a road grader in the run game. Wish we had a lineman anywhere close to his production. We aren't going through that guy next week.....

Oops- Duke left tackle!

The Duck of Death.

That's "Duke" of Death.

. . . Duck I says. . .

Best way to deal with road graders is to mess with them using shifts a lot, force them to move side to side to get to blocks. I haven't seen how Duke plays yet though, so I'll take a look at some film this week.

Any idea if Jason Kidd and Bobby Hurley will be in attendance?

BearoutEast67 said:

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formerbatboy said:

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Oops- Duke left tackle!

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Caption -"guess where this has been?"

MinotStateBeav said:

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Best way to deal with road graders is to mess with them using shifts a lot, force them to move side to side to get to blocks. I haven't seen how Duke plays yet though, so I'll take a look at some film this week.

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I would be careful when evaluating the Duke run game. After 5 games they rank #76 nationally. And the Syracuse run defense is bad. They are #111. Illinois is the best run defense they have faced and they are #58. The only team that is in the upper half. Tulane and NC ST are #75 and #71 respectively. Elon their first opponent is an FCS program. I will be surprised if Duke will be able to run it down Cals throat.

Cal is #36 in run defense nationally. The rushing offense has been bad #116. The Duke rush defense is #66.
It will be hard for all of us to erase the memory of SDSU but this game should be very comeptitive. Duke is a nice team but not a powerhouse.

The Duke defense is #99 nationally. BC is #50 Each has played one FCS team. Duke is #86 in scoring defense at that includes this past weeks Syracuse win where they allowed just 3 and an FCS opponent. Cal is #34 in both total defense and scoring defense. I think many would be surprised that SDSU is #6 in scoring defense and #10 in total defense.

I think this game leans more Cal than many would like to believe. The debacle is San Diego has impacted the beliefs of many. Including the odds makers. IMO there is no way Duke should be a 2.5 pt favorite in Berkeley.

JMO but Cal needs to win this game and should. Duke is a nice team. But like Minnesota they are not a great team by any strecth. CMS needs to be a difference maker on Saturday.

In the land of midgets ( ACC) we stand tall Saturday night. We'll win easily. Duke is a fraud in most things

Will Stephen Miller be there?

Anarchistbear said:

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In the land of midgets ( ACC) we stand tall Saturday night. We'll win easily. Duke is a fraud in most things

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They're 2-0 in the ACC, tied in 1st place with GTech and UVA. Miami only starts its conference games this week. and they don't play us, GT or UVA.

If we win our next two, we will be following other ACC games a lot more closely...

Cal88 said:

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Anarchistbear said:

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In the land of midgets ( ACC) we stand tall Saturday night. We'll win easily. Duke is a fraud in most things

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They're 2-0 in the ACC, tied in 1st place with GTech and UVA. Miami only starts its conference games this week. and they don't play us, GT or UVA.

If we win our next two, we will be following other ACC games a lot more closely...

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They beat Syracuse and NC State- two middlings- and lost to Tulane. If we hope to be respectable in the ACC we have to beat teams like this at home

The SDSU game shows that regardless of what the stats, we are capable of losing tonanybteam in the country. It wouldn't be a surprise to lose to Duke .... It could very well be the 2025 version of last year's Syracuse game.

That said, I like Cal in night games against similarly just okay teams! This schedule was tailor made for getting our Frosh QB acquainted with college ball and building confidence. To me, this season is a road show to attract the attention of skill players for next year that will lead us to the CFP in one or two years.

6956bear said:

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MinotStateBeav said:

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Best way to deal with road graders is to mess with them using shifts a lot, force them to move side to side to get to blocks. I haven't seen how Duke plays yet though, so I'll take a look at some film this week.

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I would be careful when evaluating the Duke run game. After 5 games they rank #76 nationally. And the Syracuse run defense is bad. They are #111. Illinois is the best run defense they have faced and they are #58. The only team that is in the upper half. Tulane and NC ST are #75 and #71 respectively. Elon their first opponent is an FCS program. I will be surprised if Duke will be able to run it down Cals throat.

Cal is #36 in run defense nationally. The rushing offense has been bad #116. The Duke rush defense is #66.
It will be hard for all of us to erase the memory of SDSU but this game should be very comeptitive. Duke is a nice team but not a powerhouse.

The Duke defense is #99 nationally. BC is #50 Each has played one FCS team. Duke is #86 in scoring defense at that includes this past weeks Syracuse win where they allowed just 3 and an FCS opponent. Cal is #34 in both total defense and scoring defense. I think many would be surprised that SDSU is #6 in scoring defense and #10 in total defense.

I think this game leans more Cal than many would like to believe. The debacle is San Diego has impacted the beliefs of many. Including the odds makers. IMO there is no way Duke should be a 2.5 pt favorite in Berkeley.

JMO but Cal needs to win this game and should. Duke is a nice team. But like Minnesota they are not a great team by any strecth. CMS needs to be a difference maker on Saturday.

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Mensah is a good qb, probably the equiv of Lonergan, but not as mobile. he has sparked their O.

If we can contain him, we'll win. Cal by 3.

Anarchistbear said:

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Cal88 said:

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Anarchistbear said:

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In the land of midgets ( ACC) we stand tall Saturday night. We'll win easily. Duke is a fraud in most things

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They're 2-0 in the ACC, tied in 1st place with GTech and UVA. Miami only starts its conference games this week. and they don't play us, GT or UVA.

If we win our next two, we will be following other ACC games a lot more closely...

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They beat Syracuse and NC State- two middlings- and lost to Tulane. If we hope to be respectable in the ACC we have to beat teams like this at home

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Tulane > SDSU. Tulane is #58 in Sagarin, SDSU #93.

Duke is #39 in Sagarin, we're #69. The line should be a bit bigger than 2.5 given this, it seems that the bettors think we're better than we look at this point. Maybe intangibles favor us (kickoff at 10:30EST, momentum after big road win, JKS settling in etc). Not sure about the Duke injury report.

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

The home field advantage is typicaly worth about 3 points so that would make this 5.5 on a neutral field. Also, I'm seeing 3.5 on draft kings, so that = 6.5 on a neutral field. That feels about right based on what we've seen from both teams. Memorial Stadium is a significant factor. That travel is, as well. It's not an easy place to play and the student section will be strong. With the 4-pack family deal, lots of seats should be sold. Everyhing feels right for a Cal "upset" when in reality, I feel like this should be a pick'em. If we bring our A game, we will win.

Econ141 said:

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To me, this season is a road show to attract the attention of skill players for next year that will lead us to the CFP in one or two years.

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LOL! We won't get a smell of the CFP until Wilcox is sacked. He is the master of 6-6.

Does Duke have a free board?

Here's what concerns me, and it's been this way for the last several years:
When Cal really need a first-down/TD in a 4th and 1 or 4th and goal situation, they can't reliably get it.
Don't come back and quote the times Cal has gotten the first-down/TD - they failed twice against BC, who I don't think has a dominating front-seven. My point is that when Cal needs the OL to really muscle up and push, it's at best a coin-flip.

MiZery said:

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Does Duke have a free board?

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This seems to be the recommended board:

https://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/index.php?forums/elizabeth-king-forum.2/

TouchedTheAxeIn82 said:

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MiZery said:

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Does Duke have a free board?

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This seems to be the recommended board:
https://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/index.php?forums/elizabeth-king-forum.2/

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thanks (link works), Cal's thread..
https://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/index.php?threads/fb-duke-at-california-saturday-10-4-10-30pm-et-espn-pregame-in-game-thread.52052/

Hey now! Duke fan here and a moderator on the DukeBasketballReport someone linked above.

First, welcome to the ACC.

Second, go to Hell Carolina. It just has to be said.

Third, I wanted to reach out and get y'all's thoughts on the game since we are likely not too familiar with each other's teams. Your defense looks pretty strong across the board (especially run defense and scoring defense, although passing defense is also impressive). Sorry to hear about the injuries to Isaiah Crosby and Ryan McCulloch (no one wants to see college kids get hurt), curious as to how y'all think that may impact the defense.

Our offense has been good at times (ranked 14th in passing yards and 10th in yards per play) but dumb penalties and fumbles have been killing us at times. Uncharacteristically undisciplined. Special teams have also been "mid" at best. We also start slow but finish stronger. We will need four strong quarters to pull this one out.

All in all I think we should be underdogs in this one. We will need to really play more disciplined ball if Duke has a chance.

Curious as to how y'all see it. Feel free to visit our site and discuss if you wish (and of course we're open for other sports as well as you can tell from the name).

Anyway, again good luck and welcome to the conference. Go to Hell, Carolina. Hoping both teams come through the game without injury.

OPK

OldPhiKap said:

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Hey now! Duke fan here and a moderator on the DukeBasketballReport someone linked above.

First, welcome to the ACC.

Second, go to Hell Carolina. It just has to be said.

Third, I wanted to reach out and get y'all's thoughts on the game since we are likely not too familiar with each other's teams. Your defense looks pretty strong across the board (especially run defense and scoring defense, although passing defense is also impressive). Sorry to hear about the injuries to Isaiah Crosby and Ryan McCulloch (no one wants to see college kids get hurt), curious as to how y'all think that may impact the defense.

Our offense has been good at times (ranked 14th in passing yards and 10th in yards per play) but dumb penalties and fumbles have been killing us at times. Uncharacteristically undisciplined. Special teams have also been "mid" at best. We also start slow but finish stronger. We will need four strong quarters to pull this one out.

All in all I think we should be underdogs in this one. We will need to really play more disciplined ball if Duke has a chance.

Curious as to how y'all see it. Feel free to visit our site and discuss if you wish (and of course we're open for other sports as well as you can tell from the name).

Anyway, again good luck and welcome to the conference. Go to Hell, Carolina. Hoping both teams come through the game without injury.

OPK

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Welcome! I hope you're going to the game and if so, have a great time. Memorial Stadium and Berkeley in general, are experiences not to be missed and you'll have a great time. Others who know a lot more about football can likely better speculate, but l think you're right in that it really comes down to discipline. Before our defensive injuries (which are indeed significant) I would have put money on the Bears in this one, especially if you get free points, but I feel like it's really a tossup a this point. So far this year, we've struggled on offense, with receivers dropping passes, inability to create holes for the run game, and inability to crash holes that are made, for big gains. All of that seemed to improve last week vs BC, but the defense fell off a bit, with missed tackles and missed assignments, and yielding some chunk plays. We do tend to pick off bad passes, so that's one thing to watch out for, but we have had trouble all year getting pressure on the QB (exacerbated by rushing only 3, but that decision has freed up our more athletic defensive backs and has probably led a few of those interceptions). If we put it all together, we can be a very good team. If we bring our lack of focus like we did to SDSU, you'll smoke us. I do think the late start time will be a factor, even though yes, teenagers stay up late. Late is late, and late after a flight is even worse. This factor really plays into these games, and I think it's worse coming west, just like it would be terrible to do a noon kickoff if flying east. If it's a slow game (and since it's on ESPN it likely will be), if we can keep it close, I think we have a chance to wear things down in the last quarter when everyone wants to go to sleep. I feel like our QBs are similarly talented, but ours is more raw, with incredible potential. The fact that we've started to catch all of our passes and our run game improved a bit last week gives me more hope. I really have only seen the highlight reel from Syracuse and they looked TERRIBLE so just based on that, I feel like we know what we need to do to improve (hold onto the ball, stay home on run coverage, tackle well and don't telegraph passes). I think we can do all of that, and Wilcox will have us prepared. I think it's going to be a great, close game, and both of our teams are nicely match. I'm super excited about it. What are you guys thinking over there, and do you have any key injuries?

The Duke QB, Darian Mensah, is a California kid, played high school ball in Santa Maria down on the central coast. Was Tulane's starter last year on a 9-5 team, solid QB and more athletic than given credit for above.

With kids like this, I always wonder if the "Ghost of Eddie House" will rear its head. California kids like to come home and 'represent.'

Hoping for a fast start and early scores, something that we have missed in the last two games.

Injuries bring the first changes to the Cal depth chart in a while with Jayden Wayne and Dru Polidore Jr. being listed atop the list at EDGE and S in place of Ryan McCulloch and Isaiah Crosby, respectively. pic.twitter.com/WN16IKwNsF

— Golden Bear Report (On3 | Rivals) (@CalBearsOn3) September 30, 2025

Updated depth chart.

PAC-10-BEAR said:

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Injuries bring the first changes to the Cal depth chart in a while with Jayden Wayne and Dru Polidore Jr. being listed atop the list at EDGE and S in place of Ryan McCulloch and Isaiah Crosby, respectively. pic.twitter.com/WN16IKwNsF

— Golden Bear Report (On3 | Rivals) (@CalBearsOn3) September 30, 2025

Updated depth chart.

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Sigh, I thought King played pretty well, but I guess not well enough to replace Hamper?