Crowder, Renfree win ACC weekly honors

The Blue Devils did not walk away with a win against Miami, but two players came away with ACC Player of the Week honors following a 52-45 loss to the Hurricanes in Duke’s regular-season finale. Redshirt senior quarterback Sean Renfree was named the conference’s Offensive Back of the Week and sophomore wide receiver Jamison Crowder was named ACC Receiver of the Week.

Renfree completed 36-of-59 passes for 432 yards and four second-half touchdowns as Duke fell short of a late-game comeback against the Hurricanes. The signal caller’s effort matched the program record for most touchdowns in one half and most pass attempts without an interception.

Duke’s co-captain Renfree, however, said he would have been more satisfied with securing the team’s first winning record since 1994.

“I really don’t care about the records and that stuff. I really care about the win, and we didn’t get it,” Renfree said. “I think the biggest thing was our offensive line did a good job giving us protection throughout the game, especially on third downs.”

Crowder hauled in eight catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns, including a 99-yard strike from Renfree that set the record for the longest play in Duke history and the longest pass play in 60 years of ACC football.

“Once I caught it, the only thing that was going through my mind was not to get caught from behind,” Crowder said. “Miami, they have a lot of fast players. I just wanted to give it my all and get to the end zone.”

Crowder now holds Duke’s single-season record with five touchdown receptions of more than 50 yards on the season.

Renfree connected with Crowder and senior Conner Vernon on a number of occasions as the pair each topped 100 yards and combined for four second-half scores. Duke was able to pull within one score of Miami on two occasions late in the game but could not even it up.