Duke senior wide receiver Donovan Varner, one of the team's go-to players in its spread passing offense, injured his hamstring against Florida State last week and is questionable for Saturday's contest against Wake Forest.

Varner, one half of the "Killer V's" receiver tandem with junior Conner Vernon, is a first and second option for the Blue Devils (3-3, 1-1 ACC). His presence would certainly be missed in a game against the Deamon Deacons (4-2, 3-1), who eked out a 54-48 victory in a shootout against the Devils last season.

When these teams come together, points go up on the scoreboard. Duke is searching for its first win over the Deacs since 1999. That's 11 straight victories.

While Duke has a number of injuries to watch this week, the biggest change on the Blue Devils’ depth chart isn’t injury related. Jay Hollingsworth will start at running back this week against Wake Forest, Duke coach David Cutcliffe announced Tuesday.

“I was really disappointed in our run game, but mostly with our running backs,” Cutcliffe said. “Our offensive line gave us some opportunities that didn’t occur just because we didn’t run the football well. … (Hollingsworth) ran the ball than everyone else did. He deserves it.”

Hollingsworth had 21 yards on four carries Saturday. Desmond Scott led Duke with 66 yards on 10 carries and Juwan Thompson had one yard on six carries.

DURHAM – Sophomore Conner Vernon said he thinks Duke’s wide receiving corps can be the best in the ACC.

But it needs to get healthy, first.

Although Vernon and All-ACC wideout Donovan Varner returned to limited practice Tuesday morning, Austin Kelly – the third starting receiver in the group – sat out. Kelly and Vernon sustained hamstring injuries during Monday night’s scrimmage, while Varner sat out the scrimmage because of a hurt hamstring, as well.