Duke turns on jets to beat Cal
The first 18 minutes just created some additional drama.
Duke fell behind by two touchdowns before scoring the last 38 points of a 45-21 victory against California on Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium.
The Blue Devils (4-2) are off to their first 3-0 start in ACC play since 2015. That looked bleak in the opening stanza of this game.
By the fourth quarter, it was all but a formality.
Duke rattled off 24 points before halftime to lead 31-21. The Blue Devils took control of the game with one long drive (10 plays) and two quick-strike scores (three plays on one, 47 seconds on the other).
Anderson Castle punched in touchdown runs from 2 and 1 yards out. Sandwiched between those was Que’Sean Brown’s 26-yard touchdown catch from Darian Mensah.
Duke’s offense went three-and-out on its first three possessions of the second half, and the fourth one went 40 yards but still ended in a punt.
That’s when the Blue Devils’ defense, after being gashed for touchdowns on Cal’s first three drives of the game, turned up the heat on the Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1).
Duke’s four interceptions, and no turnovers committed for the third straight game, mean the Blue Devils are plus-11 in turnover margin for the last three games. The Blue Devils had six sacks, two of them by freshman linebacker Elliott Schaper and 1½ each by Vincent Anthony Jr. and Wesley Williams. Defensive tackle Aaron Hall had the other sack.
The Blue Devils’ was a tenuous 10 points until Cooper Barkate’s acrobatic 10-yard touchdown about halfway through the fourth quarter. Nate Sheppard added a 46-yard touchdown run with 5:50 left to provide the final points.
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How the start of the game went
Similar to Duke’s trip to Tulane and the opposite of its trip to Syracuse, this one had a rough start for the Blue Devils.
A Duke defense already thin at linebacker took two devastating blows in the first quarter. On the third play of the game, Tre Freeman suffered an apparent shoulder injury. On Cal’s second drive, Bradley Gompers was ejected for targeting.
Cal had touchdown drives of 75 and 55 yards on its first two possessions. In between were the Blue Devils going 9 yards backward on a three-and-out for their first possession. Less than 10 minutes in, it was 14-0.
Even after Duke’s offense clicked into gear with a 77-yard touchdown drive, Cal answered with an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Kendrick Raphael’s 4-yard touchdown run made it 21-7 with 12:17 left in the second quarter.
Duke’s level of control saw the Blue Devils leading by 10 at halftime.
Freshman safety Andrew Pellicciotta had his first career interception, which led to Brown’s touchdown. Cal’s first possession of the second half ended when Chandler Rivers baited freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele into an ill-advised throw; it was the senior cornerback’s first interception of the season.
Moussa Kane and Schaper added interceptions late in the game to further stifle Cal’s offense.
Extra points:
– Duke has won the middle-8 — last four minutes of first half, first four of second — by a 59-3 margin in the last five games. In all five games, Duke has scored at least one touchdown in the final two minutes of the first half.
– Brown, a redshirt sophomore, had 104 yards — his first career 100-yard game. His six catches led Duke. Barkate had five catches for 66 yards.
– Sheppard had 91 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. In the last four games combined, he has 395 yards on 46 carries (8.6 yards per carry).
– Schaper had 12 tackles. He had three tackles coming into the game.
– Williams, a redshirt junior, had nine tackles. That’s a career high for the defensive end.
