Duke vs Cal Prediction, Odds & Pick for Saturday Night College Football

• The Duke Blue Devils are 2.5-point road favorites when they visit the Cal Golden Bears Saturday night
• Both teams are undefeated in ACC play
• Read below for Duke vs Cal prediction, pick and odds for Saturday night CFB

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The Duke Blue Devils (3-2, 2-0 ACC) have turned into an offensive dynamo since opening their ACC schedule. They seek a third straight win in conference play when they host the Cal Golden Bears (4-1, 1-0 ACC).

Despite bouncing back from a shutout loss to open ACC play with a win the Golden Bears still find themselves as a home ‘dog in the college football odds.

Action gets underway tonight at 10:30pm ET from California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA, with ESPN carrying the broadcast coverage.

Duke vs Cal Prediction

• Pick: Cal +2.5 (-105 at BetMGM)

The Blue Devils have done some damage the last two weeks, totaling 83 points in wins over both NC State and Syracuse, but the fun run could come to an end on the West Coast.

Besides the fact Duke will literally be in a foreign time zone — they have not come to play in California since a matchup with Stanford 13 years ago — the Golden Bears have a defense that can bring their opponents back down to earth.

Cal ranks second in the ACC in scoring defense, allowing just 18 points per game, and they’re inside the Top 5 of the conference in both rushing and passing yards allowed. That’s a level up from the Orange, who rank last in points allowed, and the Wolfpack, who sit bottom four.

The Bears’ secondary rates out to the third-best, according to the folks at PFF, which will matter against a Duke passing game that sits Top 3 in the ACC, churning out 319 yards per game.

Cal doesn’t bring a prolific offense, but they’ve posted at least 28 points in each of their four wins, while the Blue Devils have given up 30+ points in three of five games this season.

Look for the home team to stay in range in this one.

Blue Devils Feasting on Takeaways

Duke has been led by the standout play of sophomore pivot Darian Mensah.

Through five games, Mensah has thrown for 1,573 yards, with 13 TD passes against just two interceptions. Those yardage and scoring marks are both the leading figures inside the ACC. He’s also thrown multiple TD passes in every game so far this season.

Cooper Barkate has been one of the main beneficiaries of Mensah’s passes, as he leads the conference with 409 receiving yards, the only player that’s cracked the 400-yard plateau.

But the real star lately has been an opportunistic defense. Over the last two games, Mensah and the offense have cruised, having not committed a single turnover. On the other end, the Blue Devils had four takeaways against NC State, and followed that up with three against Syracuse.

Not surprisingly, that +7 advantage coincides with two straight wins, while a -4 turnover margin through their first three games held them to a 1-2 start.

Bears Grind Out Victories

The 2025 Golden Bears are never going to be mistaken for the greatest show on turf, but their formula for success works.

Cal’s offense rarely creates fireworks, as they are in the nation’s bottom 30 in offensive EPA. There are few explosive plays around. Take running back, for example, where Kendrick Raphael has just nine runs of 10 or more yards, with nearly half (four) coming against Texas Southern in Week 2.

What they do have, though, is a quarterback that seems to have rediscovered his mojo after a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of San Diego State on September 20. It was a rough outing for freshman pivot Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutelel, who threw for a 208 yards and two interceptions, both season lows.

But he answered the bell big time against BC last time out, going 22-for-34 for 254 yards and a pair of TD tosses, as the defense forced an interception with 19 ticks left to seal a 28-24 victory.

Duke vs Cal Odds

Odds as of October 4 at 3pm ET. Be sure to check out the best BetMGM bonus code before placing a bet on any Week 6 College Football matchup.

Duke is a 2.5-point road favorite Saturday, and a reasonable -145 on the moneyline. Meanwhile. the Golden Bears have +120 odds to win outright.

The total is set at 54.5 points, and the Dookies have lived at the Over line, cashing five times in the last six games.