After losing the program’s winningest senior class and dealing with a rash of injuries early in fall camp, Duke is looking for new faces to take the reins of a program on the rise.
The Blue Devils held the first of two fall scrimmages Saturday night at the Brooks Practice Facility. Dealing with the humid summer weather, Duke played 70 snaps, which featured quite a bit of heavy hitting but did not feature heavy playing time for many key players.
“What we did tonight is very situational, but it was all totally a personnel evaluation,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. “We worked a lot of different combinations to evaluate how they would respond. We were really evaluating our depth and to see if somebody is ready to compete for a job.”
The Blue Devil defense forced three turnovers despite limited action from its starters. Sophomore linebacker Zavier Carmichael recorded an interception and a fumble recovery in addition to an interception by freshman cornerback Jeremy McDuffie.
“I’m always happy when the defense is taking the ball away,” Cutcliffe said. “What I will evaluate is how many times the offense is taking care of the ball even if we don’t turn it over. A lack of taking care of the ball shows up in a lot of areas.”
Although the defense got the best of the offense for much of the night, wide receiver Johnell Barnes showed the ability to make big plays in the slot, finishing with five receptions for 103 yards. The Lehigh Acres, Fla., native is expected to be one of many contributors at a wide receiver position that will have to deal with the loss of explosive fourth-round NFL draft pick Jamison Crowder.
Senior Shaquille Powell picked up 15 yards on the ground for the Blue Devils but was limited to just four carries to protect the Las Vegas running back from injury risk. Of the four scholarship running backs who entered fall camp, Powell is the lone rusher still healthy. Redshirt junior Jela Duncan is out indefinitely with a partially torn pectoral muscle, and leg injuries have forced sophomore Shaun Wilson and redshirt sophomore Joseph Ajeigbe out of contact drills in practice. With the numbers in the backfield dwindling, Cutcliffe shifted redshirt freshman Nicodem Pierre—who entered camp as the third-string quarterback—to running back last week.
Thomas Sirk is preparing to take over for Anthony Boone at quarterback this season, and the redshirt junior had the chance to run a no-huddle offense for a two-minute drill during the scrimmage. He finished the drive just 2-of-6, including an incomplete pass targeting an open T.J. Rahming breaking down the sideline. Sirk finished 13-of-21 for 104 yards on the night.
“I saw guys compete at a high level from the one to the threes,” Sirk said. “I saw a lot of young guys making plays, T.J. Rahming obviously stepped up, and you’ve got the old guys in Johnell and Max McCaffrey doing what they’re supposed to do and carrying great leadership.”
The new season also brought new faces to the field and two of the most highly touted freshmen in Rahming and Keyston Fuller. Although both played wide receiver in high school, only Rahming lined up on the offensive side of the ball Saturday with Fuller set to transition to cornerback this season.
Rahming showed the ability to separate from defenders on multiple occasions and used his speed to create a solid window for his quarterback to throw him the ball. On the other side of the line of scrimmage, Fuller stayed tight to opposing wide receivers and knocked down multiple passes during the scrimmage.
“The young guys are working,” McCaffrey said. “Everyone out there is trying to earn a spot and playing time and they gave incredible effort tonight.”
The Blue Devils will hold their second scrimmage of the fall next Saturday.
“That will be a little more schematic, drive-oriented, play-the-game style as of right now,” Cutcliffe said. “But when numbers change, things change.”
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