Duke Head Coach Manny Diaz Details Team's Performance Against California

Duke's head coach, Manny Diaz, spoke with the media following the win, telling reporters how resilient his team was in this game.

• "It looked like their quarterback would never miss, and then we go down two middle linebackers. We ended up playing a defense that we didn't practice one time during the course of the week," Diaz explained.

• "The way that our guys stepped up on defense, really everybody, no one panicked, and then started creating stop after stop after stop. At the same time our offense gets hot, they get rolling, and you get that feeling, every time we get the ball we are going to score."

Both sides of the ball played their part in the outcome of this game, but Coach Diaz felt that the deciding factor in this game was the turnover battle, which Duke has excelled at all season.

• "The third quarter, both defenses are really playing tough, and it's the matter of what is going to be the back breaker, and it was the turnovers," Diaz said. "Again, we protect the ball on offense, we take it away on defense. You've seen what we've done in ACC play, I think we are +11 in the league. That's why we're 3-0 in the league."

Overall, Diaz was impressed with what his team displayed against California, and went into detail how these types of situations can help the team down the road.

• "They showed after a big win last week that they can come back - we see it in every week in college football - it's a preparation and mindset game. It's hard to be the same team every week," Diaz said.

• "We were under adversity early like we were against [North Carolina State], we know we can come from behind, but two weeks in row, once we established the lead and taken control of the game we have not reliquished it. I think that is a really important skill that will benefit us going forward."

Although Duke has started with an impressive 4-2 record through six weeks, Diaz is focused on the game at hand. He does not want his team to look too far in the future.

• "Our goal getting to Charlotte [ACC Championship game], our goal of getting to the College Football Playoff is still intact. We have five league games left. When you are 3-0 you do control your destiny, which a lot of teams in the country cannot say right now," Diaz explained. "But again, if we start thinking about that type of stuff, we will get out of whack."

The Blue Devils can continue to keep their long-term aspirations intact with a win over Georgia Tech next Saturday when they return from their bye.