Coping with preseason injuries and facing a revamped coaching staff, Duke will look to answer a host of question marks surrounding this weekend's season-opening matchup with Elon.
The Blue Devils host the Phoenix at Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday at 6 p.m. to open their 2014 season. The game will be the first for Elon’s new head coach Rick Skrosky, who joined the team in the offseason after three seasons as offensive coordinator at Ball State.
"We are playing an opponent that we’re familiar with to some degree but not familiar with," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. "Elon [has] a new coaching staff but we know something about that new coaching staff."
Despite the new look on the Elon sideline, Cutcliffe is not worried about being caught off guard by the Phoenix.
"You know they’re going to be running Ball State’s offense and what they did at Elon before under Coach Skrosky," he said. "You feel like you’ve got some idea and you just kind of put your game plan together schematically."
The greater uncertainty may lie with the Blue Devils themselves, as Saturday's game will feature a Duke lineup devoid of many of the key pieces from last year's 10-4 campaign.
Since the end of last season, the team has lost quarterback Brandon Connette to Fresno State, running back Jela Duncan to suspension and linebacker Kelby Brown and tight end Braxton Deaver to season-ending ACL injuries. The recent injuries have forced Cutcliffe to call on last year's reserves to shoulder a greater load heading into this season.
"Although you’re emotional and you hurt, you don’t miss a beat," Cutcliffe said about responding to the injuries. "It happens and it can strike anytime, anywhere. So that’s what you have spring practice for. You already have those moves in place and people ready to play football."
Redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone will lead the Blue Devil offense against an Elon defense that surrendered a combined 132 points to the last two ACC opponents it has faced, North Carolina in 2012 and Georgia Tech last year. With Connette in California, Boone will surrender fewer snaps to teammates than he did last year, when he was often pulled in short-yardage situations in favor of the more physical Connette. Boone owns a 10-2 career record in games in which he started, and finished last season with 13 touchdowns and as many interceptions.
Boone's main target this season will be Jamison Crowder, the senior wide receiver who was named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top player. With 4,216 career all-purpose yards, Crowder will also have an good chance this season to break the all-time Duke record of 5,753.
Duke's defense, led by redshirt junior safety and captain Jeremy Cash, will be tasked with containing quarterback Mike Quinn, wide receiver Kierre Brown and the rest of the Elon offense. The Blue Devils allowed 26.6 points per game last season, but lost standout cornerback Ross Cockrell to graduation in addition to losing Brown.
Cutcliffe has liked how his team has adapted, but recognizes that nothing counts until the season actually starts.
"We’re the sport that does nothing exhibition, and that does nothing in the spring against an opponent," Cutcliffe said. "You think you know and have an idea, but each year there’s such a mystery to what your team’s going to do to respond."
Saturday's meeting will be the schools' eighth all-time, and their first since 2010, when the Blue Devils treated the visiting Phoenix to a 41-27 defeat. The schools, which are separated by 40 miles, also met six times in the 1920s.
Most importantly, Saturday will be the first chance for both teams to demonstrate the effects of an offseason full of change.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.