Duke: 'We believe that we can be a bowl team'

Duke at Virginia Tech: Oct. 23
Virginia at Duke: Nov. 6

Thad Lewis made his debut in the NFL in a preseason game with St. Louis on Saturday. Which is great for Duke football, in one way of looking at it, having Lewis, one of only two quarterbacks in ACC history to throw for 10,000 yards, carrying the Blue Devils flag in the NFL. But it’s also not good for Duke in a clear and obvious way, because Lewis, the cornerstone of the Duke offense for the past four seasons, is no longer around for coach David Cutcliffe to rely upon.

“There’s a lot of mystery involved in the 2010 team, but also I think a lot of great anticipation. I can’t remember, and this is an honest statement, being more excited about starting a season,” said Cutcliffe, who famously spurned Tennessee to stay at Duke, which finished a surprisingly disappointing 5-7 in 2009.

The surprisingly disappointing issue with the 5-7 finish is that Duke football fans, few though they may be, would make plans to erect statues in honor of the key people on 5-7 teams most years, but last season’s squad stood at 5-3 with a better-than-even chance of becoming bowl-eligible before dropping its final four contests.

The Blue Devils were competitive throughout, though, winning on the road at Virginia and taking Virginia Tech into the late stages of the fourth quarter before falling in Durham.

Replacing Lewis at QB will be Sean Renfree, who played in six games in 2009 and completed 34 of his 50 pass attempts for 330 yards and four touchdowns. Cutcliffe said he and Renfree’s teammates have confidence in the redshirt-sophomore signal-caller, a 2008 Parade All-American.

Renfree, who was limited in the spring after suffering a season-ending knee injury in November, will have to click in short order with the receiver set that had worked so well with Lewis.

Having Donovan Varner (65 receptions, 1.047 yards, 8 touchdowns) and Conner Vernon (55 catches, 746 yards, 3 TDs) back will be a big help on that.

“We believe that we can be a bowl team. We believe that we can compete.”
 
 

Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].