The old football saying “if you have two quarterbacks than you really have none” didn’t apply for the Duke Blue Devils last season. They rode a two-quarterback system all the way to 10 wins, an ACC Championship appearance, and a Chick-fil-A bowl bid.
Collectively, behind Anthony Boone and Brandon Connette, the Blue Devils’ quarterback position had one of the most productive seasons in the ACC. Separately, it was a different story.
Boone threw for 2,260 yards with 13 touchdowns and he rushed for 214 yards with another five scores, but he also threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns.
Connette also connected for 13 passing touchdowns, but did the majority of his damage with his legs, as he finished with 14 rushing touchdowns – good for a second place tie in the ACC with DeVonta Freeman.
Combined, the quarterback duo threw for 3,472 yards with 26 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. They also pitched in 551 rushing yards and another 19 touchdowns. That’s 45 total touchdowns. It is easy to understand the increase of wins from 6 to 10.
Gone now is Connette, who after graduating, transferred to the Fresno State Bulldogs to be closer to home. He takes with him 27 of the 45 total touchdowns from a year ago and 31 career rushing touchdowns.
So now David Cutcliffe will have to rely on Boone to carry the entire load if they are to repeat as ACC Coastal Division champions. Boone will have returning All-ACC receiver Jamison Crowder, who set a conference record for receptions in a season (108).
Boone has shown a natural progression in his game, completing just 53% of his passes in his first two seasons at Duke – improving all the way to 64% this past season, which was also good for fourth in the conference. He will next have to cut down on the interceptions, having only thrown three more touchdowns than interceptions in his career.
He showed the same progression late in the season, taking on the primary role in the offense. In the final two games against the Florida State Seminoles and Texas A&M Aggies, both quarterbacked by the last two Heisman winners, Boone threw for 565 yards and had a total of four touchdowns. Both games were losses, but the Bowl game was one of the more entertaining postseason contests of the year.
To repeat their success from a year ago and reach another ACC Championship game, they will have to do so with four of their toughest conference games on the road. Even though they avoid the Seminoles, games on the road against the Pittsburgh Panthers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Miami Hurricanes will give Boone every opportunity to showcase himself as one of the league’s better passers.
On the road, Boone completed 60.1% of his passes, threw for 981 yards, and had 7 passing touchdowns. He has a career TD:INT ratio of 8:9 on the road. If Boone can adjust to being the guy under center, the Coastal division is still up for grabs and its defending champs will be just as much in the running as any other.
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