If anyone thought the Duke quarterback was over with Saturday’s scrimmage, think again. Chase Brice put up bigger numbers than Gunnar Holmberg and Chris Katrenick, but Holmberg was made available to the media Tuesday in a Zoom session.
His competitive spirit didn’t sound resigned.
“I think every single throw you have is important,” Holmberg said. “Every rep you have is important. You have to have super focus, you have to know what you’re doing. A lot of it has to go on the back end.
“Chris and Chase are playing well. They’re Division I quarterbacks. You can’t hope they have a bad day. You have to bring your best every day, and they’re doing the same. You have to stick to your game. That’s the biggest thing.”
In the 75-play scrimmage, Brice, the junior Clemson transfer, completed 6-of-9 passes for 151 yards. He had a 53-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Eli Pancol and a 42-yard competition to redshirt junior Damond Philyaw-Johnson.
Holmberg, the local kid as a redshirt sophomore from Wakefield High, was 3-of-5 for 23 yards and 16-yard TD to redshirt freshman tight end Matt Smith. Katrenick, a redshirt junior that served as Quinton Harris’ backup a year ago, was 4-of-8 for 49 yards.
With no spring football due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Holmberg experienced his first live action since missing last season with a knee injury suffered at the end of fall camp.
“It was good to see our tempo with referees out there as opposed just workers spotting the ball,” Holmberg said. “We were way ahead of the chains. It was good to see live tackling. Our backs, Jordan Waters and Deon Jackson, both looked good.
“For me, getting back to a game temp was good. It was not having just a script to look at but going out there and rolling with what was called. I threw a touchdown that good. It has been awhile.”
Gunnar is a fitting name for Holmberg’s style of play. As a senior, he gave the overmatched Huskies a chance in league games against state power Wake Forest, although Heritage came up short in both the regular season and playoffs.
He finished his three-year career throwing for 6,987 yards and 65 touchdowns. He was rated the No. 15 pro-style quarterback in the nation by 24/7Sports.com.
Whoever wins the quarterback job, Duke is optimistic about having a balanced offense. A better running game behind a more mature offensive line – four of five starters return and Stanford starter Devery Hamilton is a grad transfer – has helped with explosive plays the Blue Devils lacked in recent seasons.
“It was very exciting to be out there on Saturday morning, I wish you guys were out there to see it,” said junior receiver Jake Bobos. “The receiving corps — especially Damond, and Eli made a big play — are making plays down the field. That doesn’t necessarily come from (just) the passing game.
“Deon Jackson and Mateo Durant and those guys are making explosive plays on the ground. To see that paired with Chris, Chase and Gunnar airing out the ball, it’s exciting to see. It’s been a point of emphasis to be more explosive.”
If there is a season this year, Duke has announced there will be no fans attending home games at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils open the season Sept. 12 at Notre Dame and play their first home game Sept. 19 against Boston College.
The threat of the season ending before it starts due to the pandemic is with the team, but Bobo said they’ve been able to get their work done.
“I’d love to say we’re able to block that out but unfortunately that’s not possible. You always have that in back of our minds, but when we’re on the field you’re not thinking about it. You’re thinking about it off the field. When you’re on the field you have very little time other than to think about football and the task at hand.
“As a team our mantra is the plan is to go ahead and play right now so let’s go ahead and attack it, let’s go at it.”
