When Brandon Connette transferred to Fresno State in April to be closer to his ailing mother, Duke's offense lost more than its 2013 scoring leader. Now, four months later, the Blue Devils' life without Brandon Connette is about to begin in earnest.
Redshirt senior Anthony Boone will start for Duke this season, as he did during last year's historic campaign. But this year he will lead the Blue Devil offense without Connette sharing any of the snaps under center.
"Obviously Brandon Connette played a key role," head coach David Cutcliffe said. "In all things, [he] was a fierce competitor and he found a way."
During his time in Durham, Connette served a number of roles for Duke.
For four years he acted as a short-yardage rushing option for Blue Devil head coach David Cutcliffe and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper. Often relied on to pick up the short first down conversions or punch through for six points in goal-line situations, Connette led Duke in rushing touchdowns in 2010, 2012 and 2013 and is one of three quarterbacks in ACC history to notch 30 rushing touchdowns in a career.
"Sometimes in those red zone and short-yardage situations, it’s not what you call, it’s who’s doing it," Cutcliffe said, referring to his former quarterback.
Always a dual-threat under center, Connette proved his versatility in 2012 when he became the first Blue Devil since 2001 to throw, catch and run for a touchdown in the same season.
Last season, he filled in for Boone after an injury sidelined the Duke starter for most of September. In his three and a half games heading up the Blue Devil offense, Connette threw for 967 yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions, confirming him to be not just a special situation threat, but as a viable starting option under center.
As a Blue Devil, Connette emerged as a player that would single-handedly keep defenses second-guessing, and he allowed the offense to use an extra blocker when he carried the ball directly off snaps. Duke has a couple young quarterbacks that they hope will follow a similar progression in redshirt sophomore Thomas Sirk and redshirt freshman Parker Boehme, but the roles the two will play in Connette's absence remains up in the air.
"I think we’ve got people that are faster than Brandon and throw it better than Brandon, but they’re not as polished," Cutcliffe said.
Duke's fortunes grew in line with Connette's development, and now the Blue Devils will attempt to sustain that momentum without a vital piece of last year's offense.
The lion's share of that responsibility will fall to Boone. A redshirt senior and captain for the second straight year, Boone is the unquestioned leader of this season's team. Lauded by coaches for his work ethic and presence on the practice field and in the locker room for much of his four years at Duke, the quarterback's play on the field has not always matched his leadership abilities.
The Weddington, N.C. native finished last season with as many interceptions as touchdowns (13), and he ended up in the middle of the ACC quarterback pack in terms of passing yards per game and passing efficiency despite leading Duke's pass-happy offense to eight of the team's ten wins.
"I have had quarterbacks that threw interceptions because they were too cautious—they wouldn’t pull the trigger and when they did it was too late," Cutcliffe said. "Anthony’s [mistake] most of the time is that he will take a risk every now and then."
This offseason, Boone has worked with Cutcliffe and new offensive coordinator Scott Montgomery to improve his footwork and "burstability" to buy time inside the pocket and pick up yards when scrambling outside of it. After focusing on sprinting the few steps into and out of every drill this offseason, Boone hopes to translate quickness in practice to bursts of speed in games.
"I think a quarterback in this era has to have great short-space quickness to run the style of offense we do," Cutcliffe said. "You can go make five yards in a heartbeat if you develop the type of quickness we aim to see."
Combined with a continued emphasis on patience and selectivity when throwing the ball, the hope is that more time in the pocket will allow Boone to minimize unforced turnovers and take advantage of opportunities to pick up crucial yards on the ground.
Duke will miss the versatility and physicality Connette provided in the backfield, and the fortunes of the offense this season will be closely tied to Boone's effectiveness as the team's sole threat under center. The Blue Devils knew what they lost in Connette, and now the hope is that they know what they have gained in Boone.
"Until we play, you don’t know," Cutcliffe said of Boone's progress since last year. "But he certainly has done it in practice."
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