On Duke Student Broadcasting’s football preview show Four Downs, Daniel Carp and Zac Elder talked about how Anthony Boone being listed as questionable was a good sign, but that he would most likely sit out for another week or two. After all, this is the starting quarterback of a bowl-caliber football team. Why on earth would you rush him into play?
Well much to the surprise of Mr. Carp, Mr. Elder and just about everyone else not in the Blue Devil locker room, Boone played—and even though he was only informed he would be starting 30 minutes before the game, it was as if he had never left the football field. The redshirt junior completed 31 of his 38 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, impressive to say the least considering he just came off of a broken collarbone injury that moved him to the bench for a month.
Coming off of any injury, I’m always intrigued to see if players come out with the same aggressiveness as before. I wanted to see Boone stay in the pocket and deliver throws, rather than throwing on the run to avoid further harm. On Duke’s first drive, Boone was 6-for-7 throwing and faced a fourth-and-1. Not only was he sacked on the next sneak attempt, but he also was hit hard. Next drive was a similar story. The accuracy was there (2-for-3 passing on the drive), but he was sacked again and the Blue Devils would eventually have to punt for the second straight drive.
Two drives, two sacks, and yet Boone continued to stay in the pocket and deliver the ball with accuracy. Based on the small sample sizes provided last season and this season, Boone is averaging slightly fewer yards per completion (10.8 last year compared to 9.8 this season) this season. The averages don’t tell the whole story though, since it is well known Boone can air it out when he chooses to do so. Of his first 14 completions last Sunday, only five went for 10 yards or more. This was due in large part to conservative play calling and lateral throwing to ease Boone back into the game. His 15th completion was a 27-yard touchdown pass to Issac Blakeney. From there, Boone threw seven times for 10 yards or more, including three passes of 20 yards or more. We see Boone’s comfort level increase over the course of the game, taking more and more shots down field.
Of course, Boone is not a pure pocket passer, so he doesn’t always stay in the pocket. On a third-and-6 in the second quarter, Boone stood in the pocket for a few seconds before rolling out to his right. The roll out gave him an extra couple of second to find Max McCaffrey for a 16-yard completion just inbounds and a first down. Pocket presence is important, but Boone’s passing ability outside of the pocket is just as important to his overall success.
This weekend against Virginia, in Boone’s first road start since his injury, it’ll be interesting to see if it was home cooking that spawned success or if the quarterback is fully recovered and ready to roll. Duke needs this ACC win to avoid an 0-3 record in conference, and a lot of the pressure will fall on Boone’s slowly recovering shoulders.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.