Duke Football 2025: Defensive Preview

What kind of mythical powers does a Blue Devil have?

Duke is coming to Berkeley for the first time since 1963, when the Golden Bears and Blue Devils tied with a final score of 22-22 in front of an East Bay crowd of 36,000. The two academic powerhouses had only met once before that, when Cal traveled to Durham and was handed a 7-21 loss in 1962. These were two very different programs way back when, as Duke was winning ACC championships with a school built on crumbling segregation, while California was going through turbulent football years in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (the Pacific-8’s prior name).

Chandler Rivers & Jaiden Francois (via Duke Football on all socials)

Now, the year is 2025. California is the most beautiful state on the Atlantic Coast, according to the television network higher-ups that be, and the Blue Devils and Golden Bears are about to face off for the first time in over 60 years. The Golden Bears’ place within the conference has been overlooked, ridiculed, and questioned to oblivion- and their down 0-14 comeback-win against Boston College definitely turned some heads, but that same sentiment is being shared with an ACC-founding member, as Duke just pulled off an impressive 38-3 road victory over Syracuse after the Orange beat Clemson 34-21 in South Carolina the week prior.

Duke was plagued for their first three games of the season (including their win over FCS Elon) with frustration and shortcomings to then-No. 11 Illinois and unranked Tulane, only to turn it around, especially on defense, against the NC State Wolfpack and Syracuse Orange, to carry a two-game win streak momentum with them as they travel to Berkeley for a 10:30 PM EST game. Duke’s defense will be coming up against a Cal offense that just put up 370 offensive yards on Bill O’Brien’s Eagles in Chestnut Hill, and will have to lean on their veteran experience and aggressive momentum against the young Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and the clicking Golden Bears offense.

2024 Defense in Review:

- Led by first year HC Manny Diaz and Defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke after the departures of co-DCs Tyler Santucci (who took the DC job at Georgia Tech and is now the LBs coach for the Baltimore Ravens) and Lyle Hemphill (who took the DC job at JMU and is now an analyst at Texas A&M) to a 9-4 record (5-3 in the ACC).

- Ranked 58^th in total defense (measurement of the total yards a team’s defense allows on average per game), 7^th in turnovers gained, 4^th in sacks (43), 68^th in rushing defense (1945 yards in 519 attempts), and ranked 53^rd in passing yards allowed.

Caleb Weaver making a tackle against NC State (via goDuke.com)

- Duke’s defense was led by Graduate-Student ILB Ozzie Nicholas, who led the team with 100 total tackles (60 assisted and 40 solo), Graduate-Student LB Alex Howard, who had 89 total tackles (47 assisted and 42 solo), Senior LB Cameron Bergeron who had two fumble recoveries and 83 total tackles (37 assisted and 46 solo), as well as Junior S Terry Moore, who intercepted 4 passes, deflected 6, and collected 71 total tackles on the season (26 assisted, 45 solo). Of these four key players, only Moore returned for the 2025 season as a master’s student in management studies from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business (via goduke.com).

2025 Defense Thus far:

• HC Diaz and DC Patke are 3-2 (2-0 ACC) this season, ranked 99^th in total defense, 20^th in turnovers gained, 34^th in Interceptions, 60^th in sacks, and 107^th in passing yards allowed.

• With a handful of returning players to the 2025 roster, Academic All-ACC selections DaShawn Stone, Luke Mergott, and Kendall Johnson, two-time All-ACC selection Tre Freeman, All-America and First Team All-ACC cornerback Chandler Rivers, team captain Aaron Hall, Graduate Student LB Nick Morris Jr., Preseason All-ACC Defensive End Vincent Anthony Jr, R-Sophomore CB Kimari Robinson, Honorable Mention All-ACC selection Wesley Williams, and four-year starting Safety Jaylen Stinson bring back a solid core that Manny Diaz’s leadership and toughness-driven coaching scheme can thrive in during high-intensity matchups.

• New additions such as Safety Caleb Weaver and Graduate Student LB Jaiden Francois have meshed into the system well already, with Weaver leading the team with 37 total tackles (25 assisted, 12 solo) and an interception, while Francois has collected 34 total tackles (23 assisted and 9 solo).

Provisional Starters:

Linebackers: #2 – Jaiden Francois, #12 – Tre Freeman, & # 36 – Nick Morris Jr OR #34 – Luke Mergott.

Secondary: #0 – CB Chandler Rivers, #3 – S Caleb Weaver, #5 – CB Kimari Robinson, #8 – S DaShawn Stone

D-Line: #4 – DT Josiah Green, #99 – DT Aaron Hall,

DE: #7 Vincent Anthony Jr., & #97 – Wesley Williams

Aaron Hall recording a sack against Elon (via goDuke.com)

Players and Personnel to Watch:

Senior CB Chandler Rivers is not only a returning All-America and First Team All-ACC selection for the Blue Devils, but was deemed a preseason Second Team All-America pick by the Associated Press, Athlon Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, Phil Steele, Sporting News, and The Athletic. Rivers has broken up 4 passes and forced a QB hurry against Elon, while racking up 10 total tackles in his last two games against NC State and Syracuse.

Graduate Transfer Caleb Weaver from Sam Houston State registered 167 tackles in 34 career games for the Bearkats and has been a wall on defense over the last 5 games, picking up 37 total tackles and an interception for 40 yards against the Orange last week.

JKS is a young and inexperienced college QB, and with the defensive core for the Blue Devils having plenty of experience, it could force the true-Freshman QB into positions to make mistakes that the prior 5 opponents would not have capitalized on – unless you are San Diego State. Duke is slightly favored in this late-night ACC matchup against the Bears (a 3.5-point favorite for what it’s worth) and is coming off of their first 35-point + margin of victory against an ACC opponent since VT in 2019. The Blue Devils are hot, and the Bears are sturdy.

How Does Cal Win This Game?

To keep it short and sweet: Cal wins this game by being efficient on offense. Cal’s defense has been really solid overall with 307.2 yards per game (34^th in FBS), 195.8 passing yards per game (53^rd in FBS), 111.4 rushing yards per game (34^th in FBS), and is averaging 18 points per game (34^th in FBS), while Duke’s defense ranks in the bottom half of each of those categories. The offense has not been as efficient for Cal as it has been for the Blue Devils, but if Cal can hold onto the ball for lengthy and productive possessions (currently 61^st ranked with an average of 30:33), they can keep their defense rested and sharp for the quick and explosive offensive plays that Duke’s QB Darian Mensah will generate, which has been a huge lifeline for any defensive shortcomings.

So, my take after that ramble… Keep the ball out of Duke’s hands, stay sharp on defense, and do not let the Blue Devils’ defense exploit the lack of experience by JKS and the offensive squad.