The Blue Devils officially kicked off their season yesterday with the season's first day of practice. The media was there, and today we have an abundance of interviews and first impressions of Duke. Here's everything we could find about the team—in one convenient place.
- David Cutcliffe wonders why Duke got such a late start date: " I feel like we're the last team in college football starting. I've been reading that everybody is two or three days into their practice, so we've been anxiously waiting for our NCAA start date."
- Renfree must be getting tired of being asked about the ACL injury. (We didn't help.) Regardless, he reiterated yesterday that he feels fine and doesn't even think about the injury anymore.
“I didn’t think about it at all, to be honest,’’ he said. “ I thought I might be, like, ‘Ooh, that didn’t feel good.’ But I was telling a lot of people, I feel the best that I ever have since I’ve been at Duke. My knee feels great, and I didn’t think about it for a second today.”
- The running game looks to improve this year. As the News & Observer points out, Duke averaged 2.2 yards per carry and 762 total rushing yards last season. Sophomore Desmond Scott won't have any of that come this fall.
"Being the last in rushing [in the ACC] last season? I didn't come from a place in high school of being last. That's just not where my mindset is. Coach [Kurt] Roper [Duke's offensive coordinator] ... harped on it last spring: 'We're not going to be last, we're not going to be last.'"And you're dad-gone right, we're not going to be last. All of the running backs are working extra hard in the weight room, on the field.... We know we have something to prove."
- Donovan Varner, Duke's top returning receiver, on people saying Lewis' absence will mean a worse season: "I don't listen to that. I have a lot of confidence in our quarterbacks. Sean Renfree and the younger guys have shown they can compete and we got a whole team-- defensive and offensive guys coming back-- so I don't really listen to that."
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