Duke fans have one more chance to see Thaddeus Lewis in a Duke uniform this Saturday against Wake Forest. Lewis talks about his future and his glee in getting a diploma from Duke and much more in this audition interview. BDN salutes Thad and the seniors and we will covering his last game from field level this weekend. Come out and support some great seniors and help cheer Duke to a win and a 6-6 season.
Duke (5-6, 3-4 ACC)
vs. Wake Forest (4-7, 2-5 ACC)
November 28, 2009
12 noon (ET)
Site: Durham, N.C.
Stadium: Wallace Wade Stadium
Surface: Natural grass
Capacity: 33,941
TV: Raycom Sports - Tim Brant (Play-by-Play), Rick “Doc” Walker (Analyst) and Mike Hogewood (Sideline)
Radio: Blue Devil ISP Sports Network
Internet: GoDuke.com
Tickets: 1-877-375-DUKE
Series: Duke, 53-34-2
Duke Hosts Wake Forest On Senior Day
Duke (5-6, 3-4 ACC) will host Wake Forest (4-7, 2-5 ACC) on Senior Day this Saturday, Nov. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 noon (ET) at Wallace Wade Stadium. The game will be televised on Raycom Sports with Tim Brant calling the play-by-play, Rick “Doc” Walker providing the color commentary and Mike Hogewood on the sideline. The Blue Devils are coming off a 34-16 loss at No. 20 Miami last weekend while the Demon Deacons had a bye week and lost to Florida State, 41-28, in their last game.
Last Time Out
Duke led 16-13 heading into the fourth quarter, but Miami scored 21 unanswered points to come away with a 34-16 win at Land Shark Stadium. Thaddeus Lewis broke Duke’s career record for passing yards with his 303-yard performance. His top target was Donovan Varner who caught eight passes for 165 yards and one touchdown. Miami was led by Jacory Harris, who threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns, and Leonard Hankerson, who finished with eight receptions for 143 yards and one touchdown.
Duke-Wake Forest Series
Duke leads the all-time series between the two schools 53-34-2. The Demon Deacons have won the last nine games in the series. Duke’s last win was a 48-35 win in Durham in 1999.
Overall: Duke, 53-34-2
First Meeting: Wake Forest, 32-0 in 1889
Last Meeting: Wake Forest, 33-30 (OT) in 2008
Largest Duke Margin of Victory: 67 (67-0) in 1937
Largest WF Margin of Victory: 38 (44-6) in 2005
Duke’s Last Win in Durham: 1999 (48-35)
Wake Forest’s Last Win in Durham: 2007 (41-36)
Current Streak: Wake Forest, W9
Last Meeting
The Demon Deacons came out on top in overtime as Shane Popham made a 28-yard field goal and Alphonso Smith intercepted a Lewis pass in the endzone for a 33-30 victory. Popham finished the day with three made field goals while Riley Skinner threw and ran for a touchdown. Duke was led by Thaddeus Lewis, who threw two TD tosses to Clifford Harris.
Inside the Numbers ...
Thaddeus Lewis is now the all time leading passer in the history of Duke Football. He broke the record in his penultimate college game by throwing for 303 yards against the Miami Hurricanes to bring his career total to 9,678 yards. The record was previously held by Ben Bennett with 9,614 yards.
As a senior, Lewis has excelled by breaking multiple career passing records. In addition to becoming the all time leader at Duke in career passing yards, Lewis set records for touchdown passes thrown, career pass attempts, career pass completions, and career total offense. Lewis has thrown for 64 touchdowns during his career, attempted 1462 passes, completed 849 passes, and rolled up 9,599 yards of total offense eclipsing Spence Fisher’s previous mark of 9,110 yards.
The 303 yard performance against Miami was Lewis’ 10th career 300 yard game, which ties him with Anthony Dilweg for the school record.
After completing 40-50 passes for 459 yards and five touchdowns, against North Carolina State, Coach Cutcliffe stated, “I believe that was the finest game I’ve had a quarterback have in college.” That is high praise coming from a coach who previously coached Peyton and Eli Manning.
But Lewis wasn’t finished; he went out and completed 30-43 passes for 371 yards and two touchdowns in leading Duke to a 17-13 victory over Maryland. Then he led Duke to their third consecutive ACC victory, 28-17 over Virginia, by completing 24-40 passes for 343 yards and a touchdown.
Lewis, and the entire offense, has benefited from playing in the same offensive system under the same coaching staff for a second consecutive season, for the first time in their careers. Lewis knows the offense, which allows him to be comfortable and confident on the field. Duke heads into the final game of the season with a 5-6 (3-4 ACC) record in a season that has kept fans in Durham excited about football into late November for the first time in many years.
Lewis' career at Duke started on September 2, 2006, when the true freshman was inserted during the first game of the season against Richmond and completed 15-24 passes for 148 yards in the 13-0 loss to the Spiders. Lewis started the next 11 games and threw for 2134 and 11 touchdowns on the season. However, he was sacked 38 times and threw 16 interceptions.
The Sporting News named Lewis honorable mention Freshman All America as his 2134 yards passing set a Duke record for passing yards by a freshman. Lewis threw four touchdown passes against North Carolina, which was the most thrown by a Duke freshman since Dave Brown threw four against Wake Forest in 1989.
As a freshman, Lewis had his two best games against in-state rivals Wake Forest and North Carolina. On September 9, 2006, Lewis completed 21-32 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown against Wake Forest. Against North Carolina, on November 25, 2006, Lewis completed 20-35 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Unfortunately, Duke lost both games as part of a 0-11 season.
As a sophomore, Lewis would have to learn a new offensive system as Duke brought in Peter Vaas, from Notre Dame, to serve as passing game coordinator. Lewis responded by completing 199-360 passes for 2430 yards with 21 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. However, Lewis was sacked 44 times during his sophomore season.
Against Navy, on September 22, 2007, Lewis had the best game of his sophomore season throwing for 428 yards and four touchdowns to wide receiver Eron Riley. However, Duke lost the game 46-43 as the Midshipman scored the games final 14 points.
The arrival of Coach David Cutcliffe in Lewis’s junior season meant Lewis would have to learn another offensive system. His third system in three years as the starting quarterback at Duke, and Lewis quickly proved he was up to the challenge and proceeded to earn Second Team All ACC honors by completing 62.1 percent of his passes for 2171 yards and 15 touchdowns. Moreover, Duke won four games with Lewis decreasing his interceptions to six and only being sacked 16 times. Those numbers suggested real success for Duke Football was just around the corner.
As a junior, Lewis enjoyed his greatest success in a 41-31 defeat of Navy on September 13, 2008. Lewis completed 25-35 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns to wide receiver Eron Riley.
Duke hosts Wake Forest at Wallace Wade Stadium next Saturday November 28th in the final regular season contest of the 2009 campaign. Blue Devil Nation encourages all Duke Fans to come out, join in the festivities, and cheer on Lewis and the entire Blue Devil squad.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Thaddeus Lewis became Duke's all-time leading passer, but it wasn't enough as the Blue Devils fell to No. 20 Miami, 34-16, in front of 38,200 fans at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Duke falls to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in ACC play, while Miami improves to 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the conference.
Early in the fourth quarter, Lewis threw an eight-yard pass to Austin Kelly to move past Ben Bennett on Duke's all-time passing yardage list. Bennett threw for 9,614 career yards from 1980-83. With one game remaining in his collegiate career, Lewis has 9,678 yards - a total that ranks third best in ACC history trailing only N.C. State's Philip Rivers (13,484) and Florida State's Chris Weinke (9,839).
Miami scored the game's final 24 points for the win on Saturday as Duke dropped to 8-1 under head coach David Cutcliffe when leading after three quarters. Heading into the fourth period, the Blue Devils led by three points, 16-13, before the Hurricanes scored three touchdowns to account for the final margin.
The Blue Devils claimed a 3-0 lead just over nine minutes into the contest when Will Snyderwine booted a 30-yard field goal. The five-play, 68-yard scoring drive was set up by Vincent Rey's second interception of the year and highlighted by a 64-yard pass from Thaddeus Lewis to Donovan Varner down the right sideline. Miami countered with a 33-yard field goal from Matt Bosher to tie the game at the 1:25 mark of the opening period.
Desmond Scott's 47-yard kickoff return set up Snyderwine's second successful field goal of the day, a 49-yard effort that pushed Duke back ahead, 6-3, with 14:50 left in the second quarter.
Miami took its first lead of the afternoon at the 4:50 mark of the second period when Jacory Harris hooked up with Tervaris Johnson for a five-yard scoring pass. The touchdown capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive that took 4:52 off the clock. Duke responded immediately as Lewis engineered an eight-snap, 80-yard march and hit Varner for a 24-yard touchdown with 2:17 prior to intermission.
Duke took the kickoff to start the third quarter and moved 60 yards on 10 plays for a 26-yard field goal by Snyderwine. The kick increased the lead to 16-10 at the 11:05 mark. The Hurricanes cut the lead in half with a 12-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in a 25-yard field goal by Bosher.
Following a Duke punt, a two-yard touchdown run by Miami's Damien Berry completed a 15-play, 90-yard drive and provided the Hurricanes with a 20-16 advantage at the 13:41 mark of the fourth quarter. Miami extended the lead to 27-16 with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Leonard Hankerson with 7:37 remaining in the game. Darryl Sharpton rounded out the scoring with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown with just over six minutes left.
Lewis finished with 303 passing yards on 20-of-37 throws. The 300-yard day is his sixth of the year and the 10th of his career to move into a tie for first place on Duke's all-time chart, matching Anthony Dilweg's 10 300-yard efforts from 1985-88.
Varner paced the Duke receiving unit with eight catches for 165 yards.
For Miami, Harris was 25-of-43 through the air for 348 yards while Berry rushed for 76 yards on 16 attempts. Hankerson had eight grabs for 143 yards.
The Blue Devils conclude the 2009 season next Saturday at home against Wake Forest. Kickoff at Wallace Wade Stadium is set for 12 noon and the game will be televised live by Raycom Sports.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre has been named the National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), announced by the organization on Wednesday.
"Mike is truly deserving of this honor," said Duke head coach David Cutcliffe. "This recognition is very special for Mike and his family, and also says volumes about our entire defensive staff and our student-athletes. Mike is one of the finest football coaches I've been around over the course of my career. I couldn't be happier for Mike to receive this award."
Through 10 games this season, Duke ranks sixth in the ACC and 41st nationally in total defense by allowing 342.8 yards per game. For the first time in 15 seasons, the Blue Devils held three consecutive ACC opponents (Maryland, Virginia & North Carolina) to fewer than 20 points. In 2008, the Blue Devil defense allowed 23.4 points per game -- the program's lowest total in 20 seasons -- and held three opponents to less than 10 points for the first time since 1976.
Coach MacIntyre demands perfection," said Duke junior linebacker Adam Banks. "He is always ready with a way to help you get there. If he sees something you are having trouble with, he will figure out a different plan to make that play. His passion for football is incredible."
Coach MacIntyre is a real energetic and passionate guy," said Duke redshirt senior defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk. "He pushes us on every snap to get better. Off the field in meetings, he really stresses being prepared, to be on time and take notes. I know a lot of guys have gone on into the business world and taken a lot of those concepts with them to become successful."
MacIntyre joined Cutcliffe at Duke prior to the 2008 season after five years in the NFL, serving four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2003-06) and one campaign with the New York Jets (2007). Prior to entering the professional ranks, he served on Cutcliffe's staff at Ole Miss from 1999-02, helping the Rebels to a four-year ledger of 29-19 with three bowl appearances.
A 1989 graduate of Georgia Tech, MacIntyre got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Georgia (1990-91) and then spent the 1992 season as the defensive coordinator at Davidson College. He also served stints at Tennessee-Martin (1993-96) and Temple (1997-98) before joining Cutcliffe in Oxford. The other divisional winners of this year's AFCA awards include Mark Speir of Appalachian State (FCS), David Needs of Carson-Newman College (NCAA Division II), Jeff Thomas of the University of Redlands (NCAA Division III) and Josh Gehring of Morningside College (NAIA). “Once again, five outstanding assistant coaches have been selected for their dedication, not only to their teams, but to their communities,” said Executive Director Grant Teaff. “Often times, the head coach receives much of the credit for his team’s success, but any head coach is only as good as his assistants. Much of an assistant coach’s work is done behind the scenes. It is our pleasure to bring it to the forefront.”
The criteria for the award is not limited to on-field coaching ability or the success of the team and players that these assistant coaches work with. Service to the community through charitable work and other volunteer activities, participation in AFCA activities and events, participation in other professional organizations and impact on student-athletes are all taken into account in the selection process.
Winners of the Assistant Coach of the Year Award will receive a plaque to commemorate the award and an educational stipend to attend the 2011 AFCA Convention or another professional development clinic/convention of their choice. They will be honored at the AFCA Kickoff Luncheon, Monday, January 11 at the 2010 AFCA Convention in Orlando, Fla.
The AFCA was founded in 1922 and currently has more than 10,000 members around the world, ranging from the high school level to the professional ranks. According to its constitution, the AFCA was formed, in part, to “maintain the highest possible standards in football and the coaching profession” and to “provide a forum for the discussion and study of all matters pertaining to football and coaching.”
BDN caught up with Duke senior defensive back Catron Gainey and got his thoughts on his collegiate career coming to an end and going down to Miami where Duke's bowl hopes are on the line.
Just press play -
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