As some of you know, the interview session with head coaches at ACC Kickoff goes on for a good while. BDN brings you part 2 of 4 from Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe. It's worth a listen for their was no tv taping during the session.
Just press play -
GREENSBORO, N.C. - In years past the Duke Football coach would have very few media members around him during the annual ACC Operation Football event which kicks off the season. Coach David Cutcliffe entertained a throng of reporters who wanted to hear his take on Duke Football which is an obvious sign that times are changing. In a short time, Cutcliffe has brought Duke to a point where they are no longer a game you circle as a sure win. Duke has improved under Cutliffe and fans are hoping he takes another step this coming season. He has some core players in place and he has rebuilt the offensive line since his acceptance of Duke's offer to become the man who will turn around a program. In fact, the ACC writers have picked Duke last for ten straight seasons until this year. If Duke was not in this years toughest division which is akin to the American League East in baseball, who is to say he wouldn't guide them to higher than their projected fifth place finish? We have broken Cutcliffe's comments into three parts. The first part features his opening statement followed by a few questions. Take a listen to what Coach Cut had to say, for I am sure you will enjoy his insight.
This article was co-authored by Patrick Cacchio.
Duke football will be playing their third season under Coach David Cutcliffe in 2010 and quarterback development will be a key element to success. In his first two seasons at Duke, Coach Cutcliffe has guided the Blue Devils to a record of nine wins and 15 losses. Those nine wins came with four year starter Thaddeus Lewis calling the signals. This season Duke's first challenge will be to fill Lewis' big shoes if they are to have continued success toward rebuilding the football program into a contender. Coach Cutcliffe recently stated, at an appearance in Winston-Salem, "For this particular team, the obvious concern is our quarterback play." There is no better coach than Coach Cutcliffe to lead the quarterback development effort as developing quarterbacks is his specialty. "We've got some talent at the quarterback position," Cutcliffe said this spring, "but three of the guys are freshmen - one redshirt and two true freshmen."
Sean Renfree (6'3" 210) is currently projected to be Duke's starting quarterback. Renfree redshirted the first year Coach Cutcliffe was in Durham and played in six games last season connecting on 34 of 50 pass attempts for 330 yards, and four touchdowns with two interceptions. Renfree underwent rehabilitation over the winter for a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament in his right knee he suffered in the game against Georgia Tech last November. Though he was limited in Spring Training, Renfree was able to participate in passing drills, continuing to impress the staff with his strong arm, "throwing the ball much better than any time he's been here." He is now a full participant in off season workouts. Coach Cutcliffe recently stated, “He’s at full speed….the guy is a machine.”
Renfree will most likely be the starter when Duke tees it up and kicks off the season against Elon on September 4th.
Three quarterbacks will be in the running for the backup quarterback position:
Sean Schroeder (6'3" 185) redshirted last season so he has the advantage of a year in the system. During the 2009 season, Schroeder routinely took snaps with the first team offense while Thad Lewis nursed injuries. In the Blue-White scrimmage, Schroeder struggled to find a rhythm with his receivers, connecting on four of 20 throws for 23 yards. Throughout the spring, Schroeder impressed the coaching staff with his mobility, but at times struggled to adjust to the speed of the game.
Brandon Connette (6'2" 210) is a true freshman who enrolled at Duke in January 2010 and quarterbacked the Blue Team to a 24-3 victory in this Spring's Blue-White Scrimmage. In post game comments, Coach Cutcliffe stated, "The play of Brandon Connette stood out, as it has in a lot of scrimmages." Connette rushed 12 times for 91 yards and a touchdown and threw for 67 yards including a six yard touchdown pass to Tyree Watkins. Connette's ability to run with the ball may propel him past Schroeder on the depth chart. During the course of spring practice, Coach Cutcliffe was impressed with the "unbelievable progress" Connette was able to make as a true freshman.
Anthony Boone (6'1" 225) will be a true freshman at Duke this fall, and will also be given an opportunity to win the backup quarterback job. Boone attended Weddington High School in Monroe, NC passing for 1530 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for 780 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior. Despite his strong frame, Boone has shown the ability to be a dual-threat and make plays outside the pocket. Boone enrolled at Duke for the first summer session and is already on campus, participating in early workouts.
Improvement in the running game would go a long way in taking some of the heat off of Duke's young signal callers. In 2009, Duke averaged 368.5 yards of total offense per game, however, only 63.5 yards per game came via the ground. In 2010, experience on the offensive line will be a strength which should help improve Duke's ability to run the ball. Sophomore Desmond Scott and freshman Josh Snead, along with junior Jay Hollingsworth, provide the Blue Devils power, speed and talent in the backfield. Snead was impressive in spring practice, demonstrating an ability to "hit the hole unbelievably quick and with no fear," according to Coach Cutcliffe.
With the experience and depth Duke has in their receiving corps, airing the ball out on offense will remain a main strategy so the offensive line will need to provide the young quarterbacks time to throw the ball to Donovan Varner (65 catches in 2009), Conner Vernon (55 catches), Austin Kelly (54 catches), and the other members of the receiving corps.
Four of five offensive line starters return in 2010, along with a talented group of young redshirt freshmen. Senior center Bryan Morgan (6'3" 255) has started 24 straight games, totaling 2,017 career snaps, which is the most among active players. Tackle Kyle Hill (6'6" 285), guard Brian Moore (6'3" 275), and guard Mitchell Lederman (6'7" 305) are the other returning starters to a unit that finished third in the ACC in sacks allowed per pass attempt in 2009. Guard Brandon Harper (6'3" 305) also has starting experience. This spring, Coach Cutcliffe challenged the starting offensive linemen to lead the Blue Devil offensive attack, and was pleased with their progress: "I like our first offensive line right now. I'm more than pleased with their knowledge; they're stronger, they're quicker. We're better across the board there." For the first time in Coach Cutcliffe's tenure, the Blue Devils will have strength in numbers along the offensive line, which should help to keep the units fresh. "I also like what our young linemen have done," he said this spring, "I think for the first time since we've been here we're building a little depth." Success on the gridiron starts at the line of scrimmage and Duke's young quarterbacks are going to need the experienced guys along the offensive line to win the battles in the trenches this coming fall.
Duke has the pieces in place, talent and depth at receiver and running back, experienced lineman upfront; however, if Duke is to improve on last year's 5-7 record they will need their quarterbacks to develop into solid performers capable of consistently making good decisions, executing Coach Cutcliffe's game plan with precision, and leading the Blue Devils to victory. With a roster that includes 54 underclassmen, the young Blue Devils will need Sean Renfree to step up as a leader under center.
There were a few surprised faces on the kids and prospects who attended this past Saturday's Duke Football Camp. It would be easy to think the scorching heat and humidity was the culprit, and yes sweat indeed played a role. The sweat came from the crop of talent going through the various stations of drills being conducted by the football staff. In short, the coaches worked their butts off and you could see the surprise in the faces of some of the prospects as the day wore on.
Coach Cutcliffe is always quick to tell you that he is looking for kids who can run and that was evident as he peered out from his golf cart, concentrating on a drill which not only tested speed but the cutting ability and reaction time. As the day progressed, Cutcliffe would go from station to station while his competent staff barked out signals and suggestions.
If a prospect was caught walking to a station or back to the line after a drill they were quickly met with the sound of a coach telling them that their actions wouldn't cut it at Duke. This in turn brought out the best in some of the kids while others learned quickly that Duke Football practices and conditioning is no joke.
The camp will continue this weekend and each year that Cutcliffe has been at Duke, the numbers of attendees swell. Duke Football is being taken seriously in Durham and if you attend the camp as a participant or parent looking on, this is evident.
The Blue Devil Nation will be checking in with some of the prospects and their thoughts on the camp this week. Among the prospects holding offers who attended this past weekend's session were Desmond Floyd [Union HS 6-4, DE], Cameron Clear [Memorial Central 6-6 TE], Marc Mustoe [Avada West HS, CO 6-6 OL], Kyler Kerbyson [Knoxville Catholic 6-4.5 DL], and Michael Cooper [Woodlands HS, TX 6-5 DE/TE].
Other offers have been tendered as well and you can learn of those on our premium message board which is for BDN Premium members. Stay tuned for more on Duke Football Recruiting.
DURHAM, N.C. – Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner threw for 372 yards and five touchdowns as the Demon Deacons defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 45-34, Saturday afternoon in front 21,420 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis turned in a strong performance in his final game, completing 28-of-48 passes for 387 yards and three touchdowns. For his career, Lewis totaled 10,065 passing yards to become the 60th quarterback in NCAA history to reach the 10,000-yard mark for his career, and the eighth this season. Lewis’ 67 career touchdown passes is also the second-highest career total in ACC history.
Receiver Donovan Varner finished the day with 11 receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Varner caught 65 passes for 1,047 yards in 2009 to become just the third player in Duke history with over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season.
Receivers Conner Vernon and Austin Kelly both collected 93 receiving yards, while tailback Desmond Scott totaled 252 all-purpose yards on the afternoon. Senior linebacker Vincent Rey paced the Blue Devil defense with 11 tackles.
Both offenses dominated the first quarter as the two teams combined for 329 total yards and four touchdowns in the opening 7:39. Duke struck first, 1:04 into the first quarter on the third play of the day with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to Varner.
Wake Forest would tie the score less than two minutes later as Skinner hit receiver Devon Brown with a 28-yard pass on the Deacons’ fourth play of the afternoon.
The Blue Devils took the lead again, needing only 1:04 and three plays to reach the end zone. This time, Lewis found Kelly breaking through the middle for a 62-yard gain.
On Wake Forest’s following possession, the Blue Devil defense forced a punt, but a personal foul penalty gave the Deacons the ball back near midfield. Wake’s offense capitalized on the Duke miscue, knotting the score at 14-all on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Skinner to receiver Chris Givens.
The Demon Deacons took the lead for good early in the second quarter, covering 55 yards in eight plays. Skinner tossed his third touchdown pass of the game, again finding Brown for an eight-yard strike.
On Duke’s following possession, tailback Jay Hollingsworth rushed for two first downs to push the Devil offense across midfield, but Duke stalled in Wake territory. However, Kicker Will Snyderwine connected on a 51-yard field goal attempt, the longest of his career, and the Blue Devils trailed 21-17 heading into halftime.
Yet the third quarter would belong to the Demon Deacons, with Skinner throwing for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the period, including a 13-yard strike to tailback Kevin Harris and a 51-yard pass to receiver Marshall Williams.
Duke was able to add a field goal in the third quarter, but trailed 35-20 heading into the fourth. A missed Wake field goal gave the Devils the ball back, and Lewis punched the ball in from the one-yard line to cut Wake’s lead to 35-27 after an 80-yard drive.
But the Blue Devils could not narrow the lead any farther and Wake Forest would add a field goal and run back an interception to take a 45-27 lead late in the fourth quarter. Duke added another touchdown, a 21-yard reception by Varner, with 2:31 left in the game, but Wake Forest was able to run out the clock for win.
Here are Coach David Cutcliffe's comments from Sunday's Media call in show where he talks of the loss to UNC and looks ahead to Georgia Tech -
Just press play -
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