Duke S August Campbell (32) is the latest starter to go down with an injury. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD

The list just keeps growing.

S August Campbell, who left midway through the Stanford game with an injury, and DE Justin Foxx, who had surgery on his right ring finger the week, are the latest starters to move to the “out” list. Duke is now without seven projected starters: WR Blair Holliday, TE Braxton Deaver, NG Jamal Bruce, LB Kelby Brown, S Jordon Byas, Foxx and Campbell.

Key reserves LB Kelby Brown and S Corbin McCarthy are also out. Counting S Jeremy Cash, the Ohio State transfer whose waiver to play immediately was denied, Duke is now down 15 scholarship players.

“I’ve never been a part of any football team challenged like this one is,” head coach David Cutcliffe said in reference to the number of injuries.

Duke starting quarterback Sean Renfree spent most of the first half throwing swing passes instead of looking downfield. CREDIT: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP

Sunday reflections on Duke's 50-13 loss at Stanford took the form of a Monday newspaper story this week. With minimal more ado, a triaged list of concerns and issues for the Blue Devils. Naturally, the most pressing is at the top.

And yes, Nos. 1 and 2 cover pretty much the entire offense. Echoing that thought, head coach David Cutcliffe called the first half the worst offensive performance Duke has turned in during his five-year tenure.

1. The passing game

The most serious problem is also the most unexpected. With fifth-year senior and three-year starter Sean Renfree under center, and one of the ACC’s most prolific receivers in conference history, Conner Vernon, in the fold, the passing attack figured to be one of Duke’s strengths. But the Blue Devils seemed reluctant to attempt anything other than a swing pass to either the right or left flat in the first half against Stanford, trying the move 13 times. Only two of those went for more than five yards, as the Cardinal linebackers quickly figured out the game plan and used their speed to swarm the receiver as soon as he caught the ball.

“We stuck to the game plan,” said backup quarterback Anthony Boone, who relieved Renfree in the third quarter. “We didn’t change the game plan, but the defense did a really good job executing their twists and getting after their pass rushes, disrupting our backfield and our run game.”

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe got his wish: Time Warner Cable will broadcast the Blue Devils' game in the Triangle area. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD-cseward@newsobserver.com

7 p.m. update

Thanks to an 11th-hour agreement with Time Warner Cable, the Duke vs. Stanford game will be available on TV in the Triangle area, and viewers can watch Duke try to win its first road game against a ranked opponent in 41 years Saturday night at 10:30 p.m.

(Side note: In addition to Duke battling its own road history, Pac-12 teams have won 75 percent of their games against East Coast opponents in the past five years. Other fun facts in my story today about road game woes.)

Duke CB Tim Burton and the rest of the defense will have to tackle better if they want to hang with Stanford. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD-cseward@newsobserver.com

DURHAM—Imagine being David Cutcliffe or defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. It's the preseason, and you've got a unit that is down three projected starters in LB Kelby Brown, S Jordon Byas and NG Jamal Bruce. CB Jared Boyd, LB Britton Grier and DE Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo are also unavailable to due injuries. So, what do you do?

Not much new from last week on the injury front. DE Jonathan Woodruff, who was listed as doubtful last week but did play, is now probable. S Anthony Young-Wiseman, who also took the field last time, is up from questionable to probable. And Kenny Anunike, who registered three tackles and a half sack, is off the list after being probable last week.

The out list is still long, with 12 scholarship players out, if you count the ineligible S Jeremy Cash, whose transfer waiver from Ohio State was denied for this season. So, Duke will head into its Stanford game with the same crew that beat FIU 46-26:

Conner Vernon with one of his 10 catches against FIU. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD-cseward@newsobserver.com

Duke WR Conner Vernon was one of eight players to receive ACC Player of the Week recognition from the league office Tuesday. Vernon, the ACC's Receiver of the Week, caught 10 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown in Duke's 46-26 win over FIU. With his final catch, Vernon became Duke's all-time leader in pass receptions, passing former high school and collegiate teammate Donovan Varner's mark of 208. And by catching at least one pass for the 38th consecutive game, he extended what is the FBS's longest active streak. 

In addition to his ascent in the Duke record book, Vernon also climbed closer to the top of the ACC's all-time catches and receiving yards lists. With 209 career catches, he's currently fourth, behind Virginia's Billy McMullen (210), Wake Forest's Desmond Clark (216) and Clemson's Aaron Kelly (232). Vernon also currently ranks 12th on the career receiving yards chart with 2,855 yards. Florida State's Peter Warrick currently has the top mark of 3,517 yards.

"Since Conner Vernon has been at Duke, I've never seen him have a bad practice," head coach David Cutcliffe said of the four-year starter who has only missed one game. "When someone gets hurt, we have hamstring tightness in somebody, Conner always took their reps in practice. He is the greatest lesson for a young player."

"A relentless pursuit of excellence is what Conner Vernon is." 

The other recipients of player of the week honors were Clemson’s Andre Ellington (Offensive Back), Clemson’s Dalton Freeman (Offensive Lineman), Florida State’s Bjoern Werner (Defensive Lineman), Virginia Tech’s Jack Tyler (Linebacker), Wake Forest’s A.J. Marshall (Defensive Back), Virginia Tech’s Cody Journell (Specialist) and Miami’s Duke Johnson (Rookie).

Redshirt freshman Kyler Brown (56) goes up to disrupt a pass from FIU's Jake Medlock in the Blue Devils' 46-26 victory. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD-cseward@newsobserver.com

While I was gone last week, 12 first-year players showed up on Duke's two-deep offensive and defensive depth chart, including five true freshmen. The depth chart is unchanged this week going into Stanford, but let's take a look at how the new guys did in their debuts:

Duke redshirt freshman Kyler Brown (56) picks off a pass in the fourth quarter. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD-cseward@newsobserver.com

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe holds weekly Sunday teleconferences during the season in which he looks back at the previous game and will talk a bit about the game to come. Here are a few highlights from today’s look at the 46-26 win over Florida International and a few thoughts on Stanford. Duke is currently a 14.5 underdog for its road game against the Cardinal.

Duke's Desmond Scott (33) and Jamison Crowder (3) celebrate Crowder's second-quarter touchdown. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD-cseward@newsobserver.com 

While I was off in Scotland and Ireland, it was quite a busy week back in Durham. A quick rundown of what I missed, just in case you missed something, too:

First, a programming note: I'll be on vacation, without a working phone, for the next week. The rest of the staff will handle the Duke football duties leading up to and including the game against FIU, so be sure to check the site's main Duke page throughout the week and follow me on twitter (@laurakeeley), as I've rigged my feed to automatically post new stories as they appear on the site.

My season preview, complete with a lengthy look at how, exactly, Conner Vernon ended up at Duke will run in Tuesday's paper, so look for that to appear online Monday night. 

See you next Sunday.

Switching directions, we are officially seven days from the start of Duke's college football season. I wrote a camp wrap-up for today's paper focusing on Brandon Connette's new role, the possibility of a stronger run game, and, of course, all of the injuries.

With Jordon Byas joining the list of starters lost for the season Friday, I actually went and revised my prediction for Duke's record. There are just so many missing players, and the schedule is just so unfavorable. I'm not sure the Blue Devils have caught a lucky break in the five years David Cutcliffe has been in Durham. But that's football.

Know one thing, though, in case it isn't obvious: Cutcliffe and his staff work incredibly hard. They're fully committed to turning the program around and are constantly looking for any type of advantage. Case in point: the Blue Devils ditched their old, paper playbooks and have become one of the first teams to go completely digital. In case you missed the story earlier in the week, give it a read. It's pretty intriguing technology.