Duke
The fourth year of the David Cutcliffe begins by having to replace who I considered to be the most underrated quarterback in the nation in Thaddeus Lewis. It’s hard to ignore what Lewis accomplished at Duke. Lewis broke 49 school records in his four seasons with the Blue Devils, and became only the second person in ACC history to throw for over 10,000 yards. It’s a big blow to a school trying to claw its way back from the outhouse.
Offense
If there is one thing David Cutcliffe can do, it is developing quarterbacks. He’s done it all throughout his career in coaching. And he has another very good looking quarterback in sophomore Sean Renfree. Cutcliffe saw the potential in Renfree, and wedged in some playing time for him in his freshman campaign, but unfortunately, Renfree tore his ACL near the end of the season, and missed the last two games, plus was limited in spring practice while recovering from the injury. But Renfree did impress in the time he was given, completing 68% of his passes with a 4-2 touchdown-interception ratio. I don’t think Renfree will throw for 3000 yards like Lewis did last year, but 2500 yards is more likely.
The one weakness for Duke is the run game. The Blue Devils were last in all of college football in rushing last year, averaging 63.5 yards per game, and only 762 yards total. And 30 percent of those yards came in one game, a 233 yard effort again NC Central. The leading rusher, Desmond Scott, amassed 262 yards rushing last year. It’s suffice to say that the running game was not much of a factor last season, but I do think between Scott and junior Jay Hollingsworth, the running game will be more of a factor this season.
The receiving corps returns in tact this year, and it is a good one, led by junior Donovan Varner. Though slight in stature (5-9 and 170 pounds), he is Duke’s playmaker. Varner caught 65 passes for 1047 yards and eight touchdowns, garnering first team all ACC honors last season, and first team preseason all ACC this year. He is joined by sophomore Conner Vernon, who made second team all ACC last season, after catching 55 passes for 746 yards, and senior Austin Kelly, who also caught 54 passes for 625 yards. The tight end, Brett Huffman, wasn’t used a whole lot last season (18 catches). You can make an argument that this is the best receiving corps in the ACC. Not very often do you put the words “Duke”, “football”, and “best” in the same sentence and mean it in a positive way.
The offensive line returns four of five starters. And this is a good offensive line. The Blue Devils are only replacing the right tackle, and that will be filled by junior Jon Needham, who is a behemoth at 6-7 and 320 pounds. Left guard Mitchell Lederman missed three games last year, but Kyle Hill, who has started every game of his career, along with Brian Moore and Bryan Morgan, started every game last year. Not only is this a good line, but it is experienced.
Defense
An interesting fact came to me in terms of rankings: while the offense looked really good because of the passing game, it ranked 69th nationally. But the defense, while not as touted, was ranked 61st. And Duke didn’t seem to have that great of a defense, and the last three games of the season exposed that. Duke’s opponents scored 128 points in those games. And they lost one of their best players in Vince Oghobaase, who was actually a pretty highly touted player, but had an injury plagued senior season, and was not as much of a force as expected last season. Two starters do return on the defensive line in senior Patrick Egboh and DT Charlie Thatcher. Senior Wesley Oglesby is slated to start at defensive end, and the other spot at the defensive could be freshman Sydney Sarmiento.
The linebacking corps returns this year mostly in tact, lead by Damian Thornton. The senior was fourth on the team in tackles last year. He will be joined by senior Abraham Kromah and senior Adam Banks. And no, this isn’t the same character from the Might Ducks movies. This is a totally different person. But while all three linebackers are seniors, there isn’t a whole lot of experience.
The Blue Devils were better against the pass last season, improving to 52nd overall in the country, but the team only had eight interceptions, or as many as DeAndre McDaniel of Clemson had by himself. But they do get back Matt Daniels at safety, who was third on the team in tackles, and leader among returnees. He will be joined by sophomore Jordan Byas. The cornerbacks will be junior Johnny Williams and one of the best names in all of college football, Chris Rwabukamba. I had to check the spelling of the last name several times just to make sure I got it right.
Special Teams
The kicking game won’t be a big issue. Will Snyderwine solved the Blue Devils kicking issues by nailing 17-20 field goals with a long of 51. Snyderwine made second team all ACC for his efforts, and was awarded a scholarship by David Cutcliffe. The punter will be senior Kevin Jones, who averaged 39.3 yards per punt, and put 14 of those punts inside the 20.
The return game is handled mostly by cornerback Johnny Williams. The cornerback returned 13 punts last year, and averaged 8.3 yards per return. Williams also returned 20 kickoffs and averaged 20.6 yards per return. Running back Desmond Scott also returned kicks, returning 18 for a 25.1 average.
Schedule
The schedule does favor Duke early, except for a game against Alabama. They host Elon and Army, and go to Wake Forest and Maryland. It’s possible that Duke could get off to a 4-1 start. But the schedule is downright brutal after that, as they face the rest of the Coastal division after that. But a home game against Virginia is winnable.
Fantasy Player to Watch
Assuming he recovers from the ACL injury, Sean Renfree will be a person to look at. Combine the fact that Duke throws a lot, and David Cutcliffe’s ability to turn quarterbacks in to something, he should be a good guy to have on your team. You can also look at Donovan Varner at wide receiver. He’s small in stature, but he comes up big.
Will’s Thoughts
It’s amazing to see what David Cutcliffe has done in his three season at Duke. From 2000-2007, which was Ted Roof’s last year, Duke won a total of 10 games. In Cutcliffe’s two years, Duke has won nine games. This is also the same school that went winless three different times in the 2000’s (2000, 2001, and 2006). The offense will be good, but the defense has some question marks. There really isn’t someone who jumps out at you on defense. But the schedule will help early on, and if they can pull off an upset or two, Duke could go to their first bowl since 1994.
