Duke football kicks off regular season at Tulane Thursday

With new starters at several positions, Duke spent the offseason working to replace the core responsible for the program’s three consecutive bowl appearances. But after a slew of injuries in fall camp forced some reshuffling of the roster, head coach David Cutcliffe’s squad still has plenty of questions to answer.

That uncertainty will begin to subside when the Blue Devils face Tulane Thursday at 9:30 p.m. at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans. The season opener will be the Blue Devils’ first on the road since Duke hired Cutcliffe after the 2007 season.

Last September, it was a one-sided show when Duke squared off with Tulane at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils dominated the Green Wave 47-13 thanks to two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a strong game on the ground. But this is a new season, and with many returning starters, Tulane has the potential to contend for a postseason bowl bid.

 “Tulane is a veteran team with a lot of people back. They’ll have the comfort of being at home,” Cutcliffe said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “I’m excited to see what we look like. All of us have these first-game jitters in college football. We haven’t seen ourselves against anyone else.... We’re going to focus on who we’ve got ready to go and hopefully play at a very high level and travel well.”

Thursday’s game will be the first for redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk in command of Duke’s offense. With the departure of last year’s leading receivers in Jamison Crowder and Issac Blakeney, Sirk will look for wide receivers Max McCaffrey, Johnell Barnes, T.J. Rahming and Chris Taylor to make plays on the edges and down the field.

Sirk and his receiving corps will go up against a strong Tulane secondary known for its ability to create turnovers. The Green Wave must replace safety Sam Scofield, who registered a team-leading 94 tackles last year, but return 2014 Freshman All-American cornerback Parry Nickerson.

“I watched their last four games from the season last year,” Sirk said. “I feel like they’re going to be similar. They’re going to do what they do well. We’re practicing against it. We’re prepared.”

The Blue Devils will also rely on its stable of running backs, including senior Shaquille Powell, sophomore Shaun Wilson and redshirt freshman Nicodem Pierre—who converted from quarterback to running back during fall camp—to relieve some of the pressure on Sirk and the receivers.

Redshirt junior Jela Duncan will miss the opener with a partially torn pectoral muscle, and Cutcliffe said Wednesday that redshirt sophomore Joseph Ajeigbe was still not fully recovered from a leg injury suffered in camp. Wilson was also nursing a leg injury for part of camp, but appears ready to go come Thursday night.

“We’ve opened him up, and he’s running full speed,” Cutcliffe said. “There’s no real doubt in my mind that Shaun Wilson is ready to play.”

On the other side of the ball, Duke will once again try to shut down Tulane’s passing attack. In the last meeting, the Blue Devils held Tulane to 160 yards in the air as starting quarterback Tanner Lee completed just 14 of his 35 passes and threw three costly interceptions.

But the Blue Devils expect to face a quarterback who is capable of making plays. Lee now has a year of experience under his belt and impressed at the Manning Passing Academy in the offseason. He also has experienced playmakers on the outside in wide receiver Teddy Veal—who had 40 receptions for 381 yards as a freshman in 2014—and tight ends Charles Jones and Trey Scott.

“We’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this game,” redshirt junior safety DeVon Edwards said. “[Lee] has some guys around him that can help him make plays. If we go out there and do what we’re supposed to do, it shouldn’t matter.”

Up front, the Blue Devils may also have their hands full. In their previous meeting, Tulane’s running backs gashed Duke for 231 yards.

All three of the Green Wave primary backs return, led by redshirt sophomore Sherman Badie, so the Blue Devils know what to expect—Cutcliffe predicted power offense sets with two running backs in the backfield. A strong performance by Duke’s defensive line with three new starters—ends Kyler Brown and Britton Grier and nose tackle A.J. Wolf—will be crucial in order to slow down Tulane’s deep rushing attack.

“We’re going to play a lot of people,” Cutcliffe said. “I know Tulane’s offensive line is big, same group, four of the five [starters] back. I know they’re very talented. I know the backs are extremely talented, and when you’re having to defend that and defend a quarterback with the kind of arm they have in Tanner, then you’ve really got a test defensively.”