An eerie sense of d*j^ vu lurks over the practice field during football's spring practice.
As the Blue Devils attempt to move beyond the frustrations of an 0-11 season, the same big question still remains. It's one that Duke football fans had to endure on a week-by-week basis throughout the 1996 season.
Who's going to start at quarterback?
The difference this spring is, the list of candidates has doubled from two to four. The problem for the Blue Devils is, their ability to overcome last year's 0-11 record might very well be riding on who, if anyone, steps to the fore.
"If we can get a quarterback or two to step up, we're going to be a lot farther along than people think," Duke coach Fred Goldsmith said. "It's going to be the big key. If we have to wait at quarterback for somebody to step up, then our process will be slower. That's the whole thing right now. We have to have one of them that starts jumping to the front."
Last season, the Blue Devils' competition primarily came down to junior Dave Green and sophomore Matt Rader. Rader has since transferred to Penn, leaving Green, who started seven games in '96, as the apparent choice. But it doesn't work out that easily.
Duke has a trio of eager freshmen that is pressing Green for the starting job. Kevin Thompson, who saw action in five games last season, along with redshirts Spencer Romine and Bobby Campbell, have all taken snaps with the first team during this month's spring practice. Goldsmith is pleased with the performance of all four, leaving no clear front-runner heading into the summer.
"There are four of them, and I swear I don't know who's going to be the starter yet," Goldsmith said. "We've worked all four of them with the first unit. The two young guys [Campbell and Romine] have tremendous ability. They've probably got more all-around ability than the others, but they don't have the experience, so we've got to get them the repetitions to see how fast that ability will show up."
While the question at quarterback remains, Goldsmith has been pleased by the progress he's seen out of his younger players during practice. Last season, the Blue Devils started eight freshmen. With the youth came the mistakes, both physical and mental.
But thus far during practice, Goldsmith has seen freshmen such as split end Scottie Montgomery and flanker Richmond Flowers raise their level of play.
"Some of them that played last fall that weren't sure of themselves as freshmen-now you can see them when they're more sure of themselves, making big plays," Goldsmith said. "The ability is able to come out. Hesitations you have when you're a pup are starting to disappear."
After eight spring practices, it's much too soon to declare the Blue Devils' program resurrected. Clearly, though, the intensity level has risen, and the raw talent seen in spurts last year is growing and maturing.
"The intensity in practice has been great, but you can see more ability, you can see guys making big plays," Goldsmith said. "Last year we couldn't move the ball a lick. The defense got a lot better at the end of the year, and they're continuing to progress. We're having some darn good competition."
Other notes from spring practice:
¥Junior Laymarr Marshall has been limited in practice by a groin injury, but there is still plenty of depth in the backfield. Freshman Letavious Wilks and sophomore Dawud Rasheed have taken most of the snaps, though the improved play of junior Matt DeOrio has been a pleasant surprise.
¥Senior offensive guard Patrick Mannelly, who redshirted last season with a hip joint infection, is back to 100 percent and participating in all drills.
¥Goldsmith said redshirt freshmen Wes White and Troy Andrew have performed well at offensive tackle.
¥Junior Tawambi Settles, last year's starting free safety, has seen time at cornerback, though Goldsmith won't hesitate to move Settles back to safety if the need arises.
Spring practice will continue through the end of April. Though still months away, Goldsmith did not back down in his assessment of his team's chances for next season.
"The first thing is to just try and get on the winning track again," he said. "Our goal is always to go to a bowl game. A lot of people say we're still a year away. We'll see."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.