Weekly Writer Predictions: Cal vs. Minnesota Football 2025

Presented by Dokkaebier

Welcome to our weekly predictions post from our writers. You’ll see what they expect the score to be and any wacky or rational predictions they expect to see in each game!

Christopher_h

Scoreline: Cal wins 24-21

I am really not sure how this will go, but it feels like pretty evenly matched teams led by freshmen quarterbacks, so my intuition is that the game will come down to whichever team makes fewer (preventable) mistakes.

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Callie Wake

Scoreline: Cal wins 28-27

Not having Cade isn’t going to hurt us as much as we think it will. But if our receivers come out playing like they did Saturday, it’s gonna be a long night in Berkeley.

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Rob Hwang

Scoreline: Cal wins 35-24

We continue our trend of scoring 30+. Despite the struggles without Cade in the first half, we hold firm and lock their offense down in the second half.

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TD_24

Scoreline: Cal wins 24-23

I went back and forth A LOT on this one. A lot of prior thoughts had Minnesota winning a one score game and that is very much still on the table.

Both QB's may struggle and both teams are finally playing someone to their level of competition, which really had me in a bind on this. I think JKS lets it fly and connects on one deep shot that ultimately makes the difference at the end.

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Piotr T Le

Scoreline: Cal loses 14-24

We will find out the floor of the team, and a difference between a good team in Minnesota and a merely decent one in Cal.

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Berkelium97

Scoreline: Cal wins 21-20

Ah geez, this is a real hard one dontcha know? Minnesota looked real good so far, while the Cal offense had some struggles. But those DBs will definitely force QB Drake Lindsey into an "Ope, didn't see ya there" interception. For pete's sake, I just can't see the Gophers skedaddling off with a win.

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Ben

Scoreline: Cal wins 21-18

Gold Out goes flawlessly. Game is a rock fight. Cade makes the difference when he returns in the 2nd Half.

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Nick Kranz

Scoreline: Cal loses 13-20

The good news: this game is likely to be very low scoring, so a single play like a punt return (Hello Jacob De Jesus!) or weird turnover (Hello Hezekiah Masses!) could easily swing it in one direction or another. The bad news: The most important matchup in the entire game is Sagapolutele vs. the Minnesota secondary, and while I absolutely think JKS is the real deal, Minnesota's pass defense is very legit and probably a bridge too far in game 3 for our true freshman. But if JKS proves me wrong and balls out en route to a Cal win, you have my permission to go absolutely nuts.

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Jesse Miller-Gordon

Scoreline: Cal wins 24-17

I would love to see Cal’s defense effectively gum up a solid team that hasn’t faced a quality opponent. I think a lot of our success is predicated on shock and awe in the first quarter, given that the Golden Gophers had such weak opponents the first two games. Still, they are formidable. I’d be elated with a W here.

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Rex Volcano

Scoreline: Cal wins 19-18

Minnesota Safety/KR Koi Perich is the best player Cal has lined up against this season, by a lot. If Cal throws deep (unclear, based on last week’s lack of vertical plays), they’ll need to keep him busy, and know where he is at all times. I’m excited to see Kendrick Raphael get RB1 carries, and based on how Harsin has operated so far, we’re gonna see some totally new stuff on offense. I’m expecting a great crowd and atmosphere, - it will feel like a sellout, whether it gets all the way there or not

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Ruey Yen

Scoreline: Cal wins 24-17

"Golden" the No.1 song by HUNTR/X from KPop Demon Hunters is played in the broadcast 5+ times in this battle between the Golden Bears and the Golden Gophers.