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Duke football postseason awards

Conner Vernon is one of many Blue Devils to pick up a few postseason awards. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

A one-stop rundown of all the Duke postseason awards:

CB Ross Cockrell—honorable mention All-American (Sports Illustrated), first-team coaches' All-ACC team, first-team coaches' All-ACC team, first team All-ACC

Ross Martin—honorable mention All-American (Sports Illustrated), Freshman All-American (Sporting News, CBSCollegeSports.com), honorable mention coaches All-ACC team, honorable mention All-ACC

QB Sean Renfree—Jim Tatum Award (top senior ACC football senior-athlete),  National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, Pop Warner National College Football Award, AFCA’s Good Works Team, Senior CLASS Award finalist, East West Shrine Game participant

Rewind: Duke at Florida State

 

Duke S Walt Canty (4) can only watch as FSU punt returner Tyler Hunter goes 75 yards for the score. Credit: STEPHEN M. DOWELL, Orlando Sentinel

Duke (6-3, 3-2 in the ACC)

Lost to FSU 48-7

The epigraph: "I told our team it was not a product of their preparation. We have a very committed team. We practiced well. It was not a product of we’re bowl-eligible, now we’re going to shut down. That’s not the case. It is a product of playing a very good team. We didn’t respond to that very good team." —head coach David Cutcliffe

What worked: Big-picture wise, not much. But when coach David Cutcliffe went back and reviewed film, there were individual plays that Duke did win.

A few notable numbers: The Seminoles entered the game with seven fumbles on the entire season, but they put the ball on the ground four times against Duke, including three times in the third quarter. The Blue Devils did recover all four loose balls.

Connette, Butler (and a Mellencamp appearance) highlight Duke's second scrimmage

 

Look for Brandon Connette to appear at multiple offensive positions this season. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY-cliddy@newsobserver.com 

DURHAM—When David Cutcliffe announced that Brandon Connette was no longer the backup quarterback, he didn’t specify a new position for the redshirt sophomore.

Turns out Connette can’t give a simple answer either.

Preseason personnel notes from Cutcliffe

 

DURHAM—David Cutcliffe wasn’t short on optimism or information at his first press conference of the preseason. In addition to Desmond Scott’s position switch, here are a few other odds and ends from Cutcliffe:

*Even though Cutcliffe opted not to single out any incoming freshman that he expected to play right away, he couldn’t help mentioning how impressed he was with kicker Ross Martin. The No. 1 rated high school kicker by Rivals and Under Armour All-American wowed Cutcliffe during Duke’s camp and impressed his teammates this summer.

“It was the most impressive thing I had seen in my career during a camp setting,” Cutcliffe said. “I kept trying to figure out a way to make him miss.”

Redshirt freshman Will Monday, who is expected to handle punting duties, and sophomore walk-on Jack Willoughby will compete with Martin for the job. Willoughby will miss the first five days of preseason while he is studying at Oxford.

The Blue Devils are looking for more consistency out of the kicking game this season. After an All-American junior year, Will Synderwine struggled during his senior campaign, going 8-for-17 in field goal attempts last season.

 

*In his 14-minute opening statement, Cutcliffe touched an a number of personnel issues:

            - Duke hopes to know Thursday whether Ohio State transfer Jeremy Cash, a four-star safety coming out of high school, will be eligible to play this season. Cash, a sophomore, appeared in five games last season for the Buckeyes and transferred to Duke in January.

- Despite losing tight end Braxton Deaver and wide receiver Blair Holliday to injuries, Brandon Braxton will not move back to receiver, the position he played last year. He is expected to start at safety.

- Linebacker Kelby Brown, defensive end Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo and nose guard Jamal Bruce—50 percent of the Blue Devils’ starting front six—are out indefinitely with injuries.

-Incoming freshman Keilin Rayner is moving from linebacker to nose guard. He is listed at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, but Cutcliffe said he is now over 265. Redshirt sophomore Steven Ingram (6-foot-2, 315 pounds) is listed as the backup to Bruce on the depth chart.

-Redshirt sophomore Jamal Wallace, the backup left defensive end, has moved to defensive tackle. Wallace recorded 15 total tackles last season.

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