Duke head coach David Cutcliffe announced Saturday morning that quarterback Anthony Boone, cornerback Ross Cockrell, defensive end Justin Foxx and guard Dave Harding would serve as his team’s captains for the 2013 season.
Cockrell will serve as a team captain for the second consecutive season. Boone, Foxx and Harding were elected by their teammates for the first time.
Boone will play under center this season as a full-time starter for the first time in his collegiate career. A redshirt junior from Weddington, N.C., Boone takes the reins of Duke’s offense from Sean Renfree, who was a two-time team captain and a seventh round selection by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2013 NFL draft.
Appearing in 12 games last season for the Blue Devils, Boone threw for 531 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions and completed 51.6 percent of his passes. He led Duke to a fourth-quarter victory against Wake Forest after Renfree went down with an injury and made his first-career start the following week against Virginia, throwing four touchdowns in a blowout win.
Cockrell registered 71 tackles and led the ACC with five interceptions in 2012. A redshirt senior from Waxhaw, N.C., Cockrell has started all 36 games of his collegiate career. He was named a consensus preseason first team All-ACC selection heading into the 2013 campaign and earned first team All-ACC and honorable mention All-America honors in 2012.
Foxx, a Charlotte, N.C. native, missed four games due to injury last season, but recorded 46 tackles and ranked second on the team with 4.5 sacks. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive end was named Duke’s Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman in 2012.
As Duke’s starting left guard in 2012, Harding led Duke’s offense to a program-record 410 points and helped the Blue Devils rank second in the ACC in fewest sacks per pass attempt. Harding earned honorable mention All-ACC honors and has started at both guard and center during his collegiate career.
The Blue Devils will open the 2013 season Saturday when they face off with N.C. Central in the Bull City Gridiron Classic at Wallace Wade Stadium.
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