Head coach David Cutcliffe gets most of the attention for Duke Football's improvement last year, but offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper is the man actually calling the plays for Thaddeus Lewis and the offense. The Chronicle's Gabe Starosta chatted with Roper after Duke's intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday to talk about the Blue Devils' offensive prospects.
The Chronicle: I caught the second half of the scrimmage tonight and saw a lot of short plays turn into long plays. Should we expect that kind of offense?
Kurt Roper: Well, that's what you always hope. You hope for your playmakers to generate offense on their own. You design things that have a lot of timing to them and design plays that are going to get first downs in systematic ways, but when you've got a great player turning plays into big yards, it always makes your offense better.
TC: What should we look forward to with this offense?
KR: We will find our identity as we go. We are always going to be a balanced team. We feel like you have to be able to [run and pass] but we are going to find what our strengths are. Is it in the passing game? Or is Re'quan [Boyette] going to be our strength? He did some good things today, so we'll have to lean on those things as we go. But we are always going to be very balanced.
TC: How has Thaddeus Lewis looked this preseason?
KR: He has done a good job, he really has. His understanding of the offense has grown, and that's what you expect in a guy in his second year [in the system], and with as much experience as he has playing football games, I'm excited to see him play.
TC: What is he doing better this year?
KR: Because he understands the offense so much more, when your base thought changes, he is able to adapt to the changes. That's not easy to do, when you have to apply all the things that could happen defensively or offensively. He's just able to think faster and play better.
TC: Is he missing having Eron Riley out there?
KR: I think you always miss good football players, but that's collge football. What you do is you develop more and bring others along. And Johnny [Williams] has been doing an excellent job at X [the lead receiver spot], and Austin [Kelly] has been doing a good job at that spot, and the young freshmen-Tyree [Watkins] is going to be a heck of a player. That's what fun about college football, you get new faces.
TC: And what about the offensive line? It's a big question mark coming into the season.
KR: We feel great. I think they are coming together, and it is always a work in progress. We are trying to replace three starters from last season, guys that were good football players, and when we are as balanced as we are, pass protection is a premium. You learn more as the season goes on but the guys are coming together as a group.
TC: Sean Renfree has been getting a lot of time in the preseason. What can we expect out of him this season, even though he'll start behind Lewis?
KR: I don't know exactly the situation. Our thoughts as a staff is that you want the guy who's the backup to get some playing time so that in case something happens and he becomes the starter, it's not brand new to him.
But to sit here and say that we know the exact formula yet, I don't know, but we have confidence in him coming along. He's still just a redshirt freshman, so we'll see. Hopefully we can get him some work and some experience.
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