After being forced to reshuffle the roster, the Blue Devils hit the newly sodded Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday focused on executing, not worried about the familiar names that watched from the sideline.
Recently stung by a series of injuries to several starters, Duke is looking for new faces to step into new roles. With the season opener against Tulane less than two weeks away, the Blue Devils held their final fall scrimmage early Saturday afternoon, giving plenty of players a chance to leave a favorable impression.
Like in the first fall scrimmage, the defense had the upper hand Saturday, surrendering just two touchdowns and few big plays. Redshirt senior safety Jeremy Cash and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Edgar Cerenord were each responsible for tackles for loss, and redshirt freshman linebacker Tinashe Bere sacked starting quarterback Thomas Sirk.
Duke’s depth in the secondary has been touted as one of the team's primary strengths throughout fall camp, and Saturday's scrimmage did nothing to dispel that notion. With starting cornerback Bryon Fields and safety DeVon Edwards sitting out, sophomore cornerback Alonzo Saxton II and redshirt sophomore safety Evrett Edwards filled in smoothly. Midway into the game, redshirt sophomore safety Phillip Carter also delivered a thunderous hit on freshman T.J. Rahming, forcing an incompletion.
Duke’s lone turnover occurred toward the end of the afternoon, when freshman safety Brandon Feamster intercepted classmate Daniel Jones.
“Our defense continued on the path of tackling better,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. “We had a number of three-and-outs. Some of those drives that were restarted would have have been three-and-outs. [I'm] pleased with that work.”
On offense, Sirk and backup quarterback Parker Boehme shared snaps with the first team. Preparing for his first year as the starter under center, Sirk finished the day 8-of-14 for 56 yards through the air. Although several incompletions were inaccurate passes, many were catchable balls that fell off the fingertips of receivers.
“I’m anxious to see both Thomas and Parker [on film and] see what they did well,” Cutcliffe said. “This is pure game circumstance, other than that they didn’t get hit. Gave up the one big sack, Thomas did, in a series that had really gotten going, which will be a valuable lesson for him. He should have never taken the sack. Obviously we got our hands on balls today that should have been caught.”
Freshman Keyston Fuller delivered the biggest play of the day Saturday, reeling in a 68-yard touchdown toss from freshman quarterback Quentin Harris. Fuller finished the day with more than 100 receiving yards.
Junior wide receiver Johnell Barnes—who starred in the first scrimmage last weekend with five catches for 103 yards—struggled to put up similar numbers Saturday. The Lehigh Acres, Fla., native was often unable to separate from defensive backs and dropped a few passes.
“Johnell missed a couple of real opportunities today,” Cutcliffe said. “He is going to have to understand that if he’s going to play here, you’re going to be consistent.”
With redshirt junior running back Jela Duncan sidelined indefinitely with a partially torn pectoral muscle and sophomore Shaun Wilson and redshirt sophomore Joseph Ajeigbe sitting out while nursing leg injuries, senior Shaquille Powell and redshirt freshman Nicodem Pierre took most of the snaps at tailback.
For Pierre, the scrimmage was an additional opportunity to showcase his talents after converting from quarterback to running back to give Cutcliffe more depth in the backfield. The Miami native demonstrated vision and agility, rushing for 31 yards on nine carries and bouncing to the outside for a one-yard touchdown.
"Nico came out and he executed at a high level. He looked comfortable in the backfield," Sirk said. "He’s a great runner—he has great vision. I think he’ll be able to help our offense in a big way."
As camp winds down and the Blue Devils ready for the Green Wave, the return of many of Duke’s key contributors is one of Cutcliffe’s main priorities. Ten scholarship players were unavailable for Saturday's action, and the Blue Devils will take a breather and look to get healthy before continuing with preparations for their season opener.
“We’re not going to do much [Sunday],” Cutcliffe said. "I am going to give them Monday completely off. So we won’t take the field again with pads on until Tuesday morning. So after the next round or two of treatment…hopefully we get a couple of those guys [back].”
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