Just five days after he joked about spreading the field with five receivers, head coach David Cutcliffe proved that his offense is nothing to laugh at. Duke compiled more than 450 total yards Saturday—393 of which came through the air.
Most of that production came from quarterback Sean Renfree, who had one of his best performances as a Blue Devil, eclipsing former Duke quarterback Thad Lewis’ mark for most completions in a game with 41. His 368 passing yards were also a career high for the redshirt junior. Renfree completed more than 75 percent of his passes by spreading the ball around to seven different receivers, and his lone interception came as a result of a bobbled ball by tight end Cooper Helfet.
“We were going to try to help Sean Renfree be a little more aggressive,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s played such good football for us. I think the first two ballgames he felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders…. He’s a big guy with a big-time arm that can see the field and is an extremely accurate passer. We just needed Sean to get the things done that he can do to help this team and that was a fast path towards doing it.”
But in much the same way that he spread the ball on Saturday, Renfree was quick to spread the credit.
“There’s a lot of pressure on the receivers to go make plays, break tackles and they did that,” said Renfree. “Boston College is a phenomenal tackling team that rarely misses tackles. Our guys put them in space and made them miss. That’s a tribute to our guys being shifty and making plays.”
After being held without a touchdown through the first two games of the season, starting wide receivers Conner Vernon and Donovan Varner finally broke through in a big way. Vernon led the team with 116 yards and two touchdowns, while Varner set a new career-high with 12 receptions.
“We threw for a lot against them last year when it was at our house and we felt we could exploit them again,” Vernon said. “It’s just so hard to focus on one receiver in our offense because they all can beat you. Without the defense respecting those guys I wouldn’t have been open, and without the defense respecting me they wouldn’t have had those catches. So it’s a team effort.”
Cutcliffe also credited offensive coordinator Kurt Roper for his willingness to maintain an aggressive offense for the entire game. Roper bucked convention and used the pass to set up the run, attempting just six rushes in the first half, all in the opening period. The Blue Devils ran 20 times in the second half, though, and, excluding a 13-yard loss taken by Renfree as he attempted to avoid the Eagles’ pass-rush, Duke averaged four yards per carry and racked up more than 75 yards on the ground. Sophomore running back Juwan Thompson was especially efficient, both on carries and on swing-passes designed to supplement the running game. Thompson totaled 104 yards on only 17 touches, and Duke managed to keep Boston College’s defense on its heels through creative play-calling and a passing attack that looked synchronized for the first time all year.
“We put the ball on the perimeter and then took shots when we needed to,” said Renfree. “We have the ability to keep getting it on the perimeter, but then I saw somebody jumping on the perimeter and that’s a chance for us to put it downfield.”
Cutcliffe also managed to walk a fine line with his quarterback substitution pattern. He employed redshirt freshman Anthony Boone’s dual-threat ability just enough to keep the Eagles of balance, but he kept Renfree in the game for a vast majority of the snaps to keep the starter in a rhythm.
“That’s just game planning,” said Vernon. “The coaches took the handcuffs off number 19 and he went to work.”
Despite Renfree’s outstanding performance, Cutcliffe emphasized his team’s offensive versatility and expressed confidence in the abilities of both Boone and Connette. It’s not clear how much the two young signal-callers will be used against Tulane next weekend, but on Saturday Duke found success on the offensive end by entrusting the offense to Renfree. With the weight of the world off his shoulders, Renfree was able to shoulder the offense en route to a career day.
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