If there was any doubt heading into Saturday, it has been erased. David Cutcliffe knows quarterbacks.
More specifically, he knows that three years of starting experience on the gridiron trumps a four-year layoff, even if you’ve been playing another Division I sport during that period.
Back in April, some national media outlets questioned the head coach’s resistance to the idea of Greg Paulus joining the Blue Devils as a quarterback. It’s Duke, Tony Kornheiser said on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption—the Blue Devils could use all the help they could get.
But Cutcliffe told the former Duke point guard he had spent too much time away from the game to quarterback the Blue Devils. When Paulus decided that was the only position he wanted to play, he went back home to play for Syracuse.
And although No. 3—er, No. 2—did an excellent job managing the Orange’s game against Minnesota Saturday, at least until overtime, Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis validated Cutcliffe’s swift decision to turn Paulus down. Lewis threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns against Richmond, hitting Johnny Williams in stride for a 54-yard score and then leading an efficient fourth-quarter drive as the Blue Devils tried to overcome a 15-point deficit in the final minutes.
But while Lewis showed why he was the clear choice to lead Duke, his performance still left significant room for improvement.
It’s difficult to criticize a quarterback who threw for 350 yards, especially when his running backs gained a paltry 19 yards and his offensive line gave him little time to throw, but that is precisely why his performance must be open to scrutiny. He represents the team’s best chance to win, and the stats don’t fully reflect Lewis’ play Saturday.
Aside from Duke’s two scoring drives, Lewis threw for 198 yards on 25-of-44 passing. He attempted a career-high 55 passes in the contest and so despite the high total yards, the Blue Devils actually averaged less yards per attempt and yards per completion than the Spiders.
Lewis completed 62 percent of his passes, but many of those were screens that Richmond blew up for little or no gain. Duke converted just 2-of-11 third downs when it ran a passing play.
In short, even though the stats suggest the passing game is the least of the Blue Devils’ worries—and at times, the play on the field confirmed that—it could have been better.
“Competing is sustained. You don’t compete some of the time. That’s not the way you do things,” Cutcliffe said after the game. “Even though there was some success—we threw for 350 yards—we should have thrown for 500 yards.... If we’re going to be a passing football team...you execute with precision and consistency, and we didn’t get that done.”
That’s not to say that the blame rests entirely with Lewis. It doesn’t. But it’s time to realize there are certain areas where Duke is going to struggle this year.
The offensive line may improve throughout the season, but if it can’t stop the Spiders, it’s going to be overmatched against the likes of Virginia Tech and Miami. As a result, the running game may sputter, to the point that Cutcliffe jokingly questioned if his team even had a running game to reporters Tuesday. And special teams looked more like the unit that missed a quarter of its extra points in 2006 than the one that made 11-of-14 field goals from within 50 yards in 2008.
At quarterback, however, the Blue Devils have the ability to be one of the best teams in the ACC. Lewis showed it in flashes Saturday. His second-quarter strike to Williams was perfect, and his surgical fourth-quarter drive, when he was 6-for-7 for 81 yards and a touchdown, showed how capable Duke’s offense can be when Lewis and his receivers are clicking.
That didn’t happen frequently enough against the Spiders, though. Too many drives stalled in the red zone, and thanks to the Blue Devils’ kicking woes, they came away empty on those possessions. Lewis must be more consistent, showing that same accuracy he displayed in the fourth quarter throughout the game.
If Duke is going to go to a bowl game this year, Lewis can’t just be good. He must be great. He has to throw for more yards than almost every other ACC quarterback. In the process, he has to lead the offense and fire up the fans—or at least keep them in Wallace Wade into the fourth quarter.
Maybe Lewis could start with some floor-slapping.
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