Romine leads Airborne attack in spring practice game

Carl Franks and his new "Airborne" offensive attack debuted to the public Saturday afternoon, and for a while, it was pretty easy to miss.

Starting in the second quarter, though, junior quarterbacks Spencer Romine and Bobby Campbell took off and looked like new men, combining for 488 total passing yards on the afternoon.

Romine, who leads both Campbell and D. Bryant in the race for the starting job, led the way with 281 yards on 23-of-32 passing. Nevertheless, it was Campbell's Blue team that walked away with the 21-10 victory at Wallace Wade Stadium.

"Spencer and Bobby both are playing pretty good," Franks said. "What they bring is experience. They've both played a little bit. They both understand where the receivers are lining up, they understand the routes, they understand a little bit about the protection. A lot of experience is what they bring to the team."

That experience was evident in the final three quarters as both quarterbacks, even without the services of top receivers Scottie Montgomery and Richmond Flowers, seemed relaxed and comfortable with the new offensive system. The attack featured a variety of deeper routes along with a lot of dump-off passes.

"I'd say it was very easy [to learn the offense]," Romine said. "When you get into the offense, it's complex, but out on the field you see things more clearly. The offense really stretches the field. It stretches it sideways and lengthwise.

"We're just having fun out there now."

Franks believes both quarterbacks are playing well, but said the starter's job heading into the fall belongs to Romine, who has bulked up by 15 pounds since January. Bryant did not play yesterday because of strep throat and the redshirt freshman is currently the third-stringer following a disappointing spring.

"B.J.'s a tremendous talent," Franks said. "We just have to make sure we get him the ball enough times. We have to be able to run it. The most success we've had with our offense is when we can run the ball effectively."

In the first quarter, nothing worked effectively on the ground or in the air. During one particularly dismal stretch, the Blue Devils gained yardage on just one of 14 plays.

Dropped balls and a few nice defensive plays contributed to the gridlock, but part of the problem could be blamed on injury. Offensively, the Blue Devils were without Montgomery (bruised kidney), Flowers (cracked ribs), tight end Mike Hart (hamstring) and a few others.

"We had a lot of young guys get the chance to get a lot of work," Franks said. "We had some guys get hurt, but fortunately they were some of the older guys, so we get the chance to get those young guys get a lot of experience."

Among the young players to shine were a trio of young receivers: Kyle Shanahan, Ben Erdeljac and Jeff Phillips. It was sophomore Kyle Moore, however, who appeared the most likely candidate to join Montgomery and Flowers in the starting lineup. Moore, a former high school teammate of Hill, caught seven passes for 141 yards and one touchdown.

Erdeljac, who sat out all of last year with a knee injury, and Shanahan each had seven catches for 155 combined receiving yards and two touchdowns, while freshman flanker Phillips snagged four catches for 63 yards.

Receivers found themselves wide open against a Duke secondary that struggled for much of the afternoon. The defense was playing without All-ACC defensive tackle Chris Combs and staring cornerback Ronnie Hamilton, but there were a few defensive bright spots, as both Brian McCormack and Quentin Holley grabbed interceptions. Freshman nose guard Noah Wilson had two first-quarter sacks, and senior linebacker Kevin Lewis also played well.

Notes: All total, Duke was missing eight players due to injury or sickness. None are serious, and all affected should be ready to rejoin the team in the fall.... Along with awarding a handful of spring practice awards, Franks named the captains for next fall. Montgomery and Austin Smithwick will lead the offense while Combs and Eric Jones head the defense.