Showing posts tagged “Donovan Varner”
Mike Potter ·
14 Feb 2010, 3:30 AM ·
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YOH FOOTBALL CENTER/DURHAM David Cutcliffe says if his Duke football team wants to have spring practice in warmer weather, it would best start winning enough games to get bowl bids.
But the third-year Blue Devil coach wasn’t saying that just to be a tough guy. He just wants to get back to serious work as quickly as possible and figured his team has had plenty of rest since November.
The Blue Devils will have the first of their 15 spring practice days today. They won’t be 15 straight days, of course, but 15 total sessions leading up to the Spring Game on March 27 at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“I told the players when I changed the first day of practice from Monday to Sunday, that it was appropriate to call it the ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre,’” Cutcliffe (pictured) said during a Friday press conference. “Be prepared for a work day. I’m excited about it. … If they want to go a little bit later in the warm, then play in a bowl game. It’s been too long since we’ve played football.”
Cutcliffe also said he would rather have more time for him and his to evaluate his 2010 team than to continue rehashing the 2009 season.
Duke returns 40 lettermen including 18 starters from the 2009 club, which finished 5-7 in earning the most wins for Duke in 15 years. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, Football Abraham Kromah, Austin Kelly, Brandon Connette, Brandon King, Brett Huffman, Brian Moore, Bryan Morgan, Charlie Hatcher, Chris Rwabukamba, Conner Vernon, Damian Thornton, Danny Parker, David Cutcliffe, Desmond Scott, Donovan Varner, Elon, Jackson Anderson, Jay Hollingsworth, Johnny Williams, Kenny Anunike, Kevin Jones, Kyle Hill, Matt Daniels, Mitchell Lederman, Patrick Egboh, Patrick Kurunwune, Sean Renfree, Sean Schroeder, Thaddeus Lewis, Will Snyderwine
Jacob Swiger ·
30 Nov 2009, 11:16 PM ·
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Thaddeus Lewis earned second-team honors over several other worthy ACC quarterbacks. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
With the ACC regular season wrapped up, the first and second all-ACC teams were announced Monday, including 13 players from the Triangle.
Duke
The Blue Devils’ high-octane offense was led by quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who was voted on the second team. Lewis’ primary target, Donovan Varner, made first team and led the league with 5.4 catchers per game.
Kicker Will Snyderwine made the second team as well as linebacker Vincent Rey.
N.C. State
Glaringly absent from the selections is quarterback Russell Wilson, who led the Wolfpack to a dramatic win over UNC Saturday and accounted for 35 touchdowns on the season.
Tight end George Bryan made the first team, and defensive end Willie Young, who recorded eight sacks this season, was on the second team.
North Carolina
Four North Carolina players, the most of any school, earned first-team honors as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Defensive end Robert Quinn, linebacker Quan Sturdivant, cornerback Kendric Burney and safety Deunta Williams were all selected to the first team.
Burney picked off five passes this season and racked up 200 return yards to reach second in interception return yardage in ACC history.
Defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who is considering turning pro after this season, and linebacker Bruce Carter, who told the media he would be returning for his senior season, both made the second defensive team.
UNC’s only offensive selection came in kicker Casey Barth, and the Tar Heels’ four first-team selections are the most since the 1997 season (six).
For the complete list, visit theACC.com.
ACC, Duke, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill Bruce Carter, Casey Barth, Deunta Williams, Donovan Varner, Kendric Burney, Marvin Austin, Quan Sturdivant, Robert Quinn, Russell Wilson, Thaddeus Lewis, Vincent Rey, Will Snyderwine
Mike Potter ·
28 Nov 2009, 5:30 PM ·
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WALLACE WADE STADIUM/DURHAM Duke hasn’t been in this position in quite some time.
If the Blue Devils can beat long-time Big Four rival Wake Forest on a cool, sunny afternoon in the Bull City, they’ll be 6-6 and avoid a losing season for the first time since 1994.
But David Cutcliffe’s club is going to have to break a jinx to do it, as Duke hasn’t beaten the Deacons in the last nine meetings.
Neither team can go to a bowl - Duke because the win over N.C. Central doesn’t count for bowl qualification and Wake (4-7) simply because it can’t win six games.
The ‘what ifs’ are obvious, as Duke opened with an eight-point loss to visiting Division I-FCS power Richmond in a game the Blue Devils would just like to have back. The Deacons had TWO overtime losses, on the road at Boston College and Virginia Tech. That’s probably why Wake is the favorite in Las Vegas, and the oddsmakers turn out to be right as Wake wins 45-34.
Duke has no trouble scoring on its first possession. It takes just three plays to go 58 yards, with Thaddeus Lewis (pictured) hitting Donovan Varner in stride for a 56-yard touchdown. Will Snyderwine adds the kick at 13:56. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, Football, N.C. Central Alex Frye, Austin Kelly, Boston College, Chris Givens, David Cutcliffe, Devon Brown, Donovan Varner, Jim Grobe, Jimmy Newman, Josh Harris, Marshall Williams, Richmond Spiders, Riley Skinner, Sean Renfree, Sean Schroeder, Thaddeus Lewis, Virginia Tech, Will Snyderwine
Mike Potter ·
26 Nov 2009, 11:40 PM ·
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Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, #9, could lead his team to a .500 finish if the Blue Devils beat Wake Forest on Saturday. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
Duke’s senior class won’t be going to a bowl game, but the Blue Devils definitely have a chance to accomplish something special on Saturday.
The visitor to Wallace Wade Stadium at 1:30 won’t be multiple arch-rival UNC, since the ACC decided it would rather have the Tar Heels end the season with N.C. State this time.
Instead coming in is Wake Forest (4-7, 2-5 ACC), the Blue Devils’ permanent cross-divisional foe from the Atlantic Division.
Wake has dominated the series against the Blue Devils (5-6, 3-4) in recent years, winning the last nine games.
But if Duke can put together a win in front of the home fans, it will mark the Blue Devils’ first non-losing season since 1994. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, Football, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill Austin Kelly, Ayanga Okpokowuruk, David Cutcliffe, Desmond Scott, Devon Brown, Dominique Midgett, Donovan Varner, Jim Grobe, Johnny Williams, Josh Adams, Josh Bush, Leon Wright, Marshall Williams, Maryland Terrapins, Re'quan Boyette, Riley Skinner, Russell Nenon, Thaddeus Lewis, Vince Oghobaase, Vincent Rey, Virginia Cavaliers, Wake Forest
Mike Potter ·
21 Nov 2009, 7:04 PM ·
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Duke’s hopes to play in its first bowl game in 15 seasons are apparently gone.
Jacory Harris completed 25 of 43 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 21 Miami used a big fourth quarter to put the Blue Devils away 34-16 at Land Shark Stadium.
Duke led 16-10 early in the third period before the hosts recovered to put the game away. Miami (8-3, 5-3 ACC) outgained the Blue Devils 252 yards to 118 over the game’s final 26 minutes.
Miami native Thaddeus Lewis (pictured) completed 20 of 37 passes for 303 yards for Duke, which fell to 5-6 and 3-4 with its third straight loss. The performance gave Lewis the Blue Devils’ career passing yardage lead with 9,678. Fellow Miami native Donovan Varner caught eight passes for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown for Duke.
Even with a win over Wake Forest in the season finale in Durham, the Blue Devils would likely not be able to play on a bowl game since one of the victories was over transitioning Division I (FCS) N.C. Central.
ACC, Duke, Football, N.C. Central Donovan Varner, Jacory Harris, Miami Hurricanes, Thaddeus Lewis, Wake Forest
Mike Potter ·
19 Nov 2009, 4:10 PM ·
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Miami native Thaddeus Lewis, shown here against Georgia Tech, will need a big game in his hometown Saturday to lead Duke past Miami and keep the Blue Devils bowl-eligible. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
If the worst-case scenario happens on Saturday, at least Duke got this far.
The Blue Devils are facing, let’s face it, a “must win” game against No. 21 Miami, and they’re going to be pretty big underdogs on the road.
David Cutcliffe’s team will have to get its biggest win in 15 years to stay eligible for a bowl game. If the Blue Devils put together four quarters of brilliance, taking pieces of the kind of games they played in road wins over Army and N.C. State and Virginia, they have a chance.
And that seems to be all Cutcliffe has been asking.
“You focus yourself and your mind on accomplishing everything in your power to prepare to win,” Cutcliffe said about how to beat a team that looks better on paper. “We don’t worry about Saturday, we don’t worry about (last) Saturday. We’re in between. If you plan well and prepare well and focus on what you can do, you have to identify your challenges. I can tell you 5,000 reasons we won’t win. But if I tell you 5,000 reasons we won’t win I have to tell you 5,000 things we’re going to do about it. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, Football, N.C. State Abraham Kromah, Army Black Knights, Austin Kelly, Ayanga Okpokowuruk, Brett Huffman, Colin McCarthy, David Cutcliffe, Desmond Scott, Donovan Varner, Graig Cooper, Jacory Harris, Jason Fox, Johnny Williams, Leonard Hankerson, Matt Bosher, Miami Hurricanes, Noel Durfey, Ray Ray Armstrong, Re'quan Boyette, Sam Shields, Sean Spence, Thaddeus Lewis, Thearon Collier, Vince Oghobaase, Vincent Rey, Virginia Cavaliers, Will Snyderwine
Mike Potter ·
12 Nov 2009, 6:46 PM ·
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Duke's Thaddeus Lewis, #9, shown in action at N.C. State, may need something akin to the 80 percent passing effort he had against the Wolfpack to lead the Blue Devils past Georgia Tech. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
Duke will have to believe in miracles on Saturday.
The math says that the Blue Devils are still in the race to win the ACC’s Coastal Division and somehow wind up in a BCS bowl. But Coach David Cutcliffe’s club would have to pull off a couple of big-time upsets to accomplish that.
The challenge in front of their noses comes on Saturday as the Blue Devils (5-4, 3-2) who had their three-game winning streak snapped in a 19-6 loss at UNC in the annual Battle for the Victory Bell, host a No. 7 Georgia Tech team (9-1, 6-1 ACC) that is on a seven-game winning streak and still has a smidgen of hope for playing for the National Championship.
Tech has won 13 of the last 14 meetings, each of the last five, and rolled Duke 27-0 in Atlanta last year. So a Duke victory would be one heck of a big upset.
“When you’re playing a team that possesses the ball as well as Georgia Tech does, the best way to prevent them from dominating the ball is try to stay on the field yourself,” Cutcliffe said. “Your offense is not just playing their defense, your offense is playing their offense. You don’t want to put your defense right out on the field after they’ve just put together a 12-14 play drive. Last year we just couldn’t generate much offense against them.
“With the wishbone offense, what you try to have, and I think it’s a necessity, you’ve got to have a quarterback who can operate and they’ve got that (in Josh Nesbitt). You’ve got to have a fullback who is tough, durable and a big-time threat. They have that (in Jonathan Dwyer). And to me the other great variable is to have a great wide receiver (like Demaryius Thomas) that’s a difficult one-on-one matchup.” Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, Football, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill Abraham Kromah, Austin Barrick, Austin Kelly, Brad Jefferson, Conner Vernon, Damian Thornton, David Cutcliffe, Demaryius Thomas, Desmond Scott, Donovan Varner, Georgia Tech, Johnny Williams, Jonathan Dwyer, Josh Nesbitt, Kevin Cone, Maryland Terrapins, Mitchell Lederman, Morgan Burnett, Paul Johnson, Robert Hall, Thaddeus Lewis, Vince Oghobaase, Vincent Rey, Will Snyderwine
Mike Potter ·
10 Nov 2009, 5:53 PM ·
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PEARSON CAFETERIA/DURHAM N.C. Central no longer has a chance to finish better than last season’s 4-7 mark.
But what the 2-7 Eagles do have looming on the schedule is a big rivalry game.
That will happen on Saturday at 1, when the Eagles visit former CIAA rival Winston-Salem State (1-8) at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Kermit Blount’s Rams had already been admitted to the MEAC, which NCCU will join as a participant next season after recently being approved for membership, but the university decided to give up on the move to Division I and head back to the CIAA.
The series is tied 21-21 after NCCU won 23-16 last season in Durham.
“I watched (WSSU) on film all day Sunday and all day yesterday,” NCCU coach Mose Rison said during his weekly press conference. “I wanted to make sure I knew what that football team was all about. I know they’re 1-8 and they’ve had some adversity. Kermit has done a great job of keeping that football team together. They’re playing hard. They really are. Last Saturday against Delaware State they were down 24-7 and found a way to come back and make that game close (losing 24-21.)
“They found a way to stay in that ball game. They’ve had a lot of off-the-field distractions and that’s made it really tough. But they’re a good football team, extremely physical on defense. They have some good players. They want to bring pressure. They have tremendous size. We’re going to have to play top-level football on Saturday.”
Rison said that’s the kind of football the Eagles played most of the second half on Saturday, when a 42-28 loss at Old Dominion on the Monarchs’ homecoming day derailed NCCU’s quest to win its final five games. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, Football, N.C. Central Delaware State, Donovan Varner, Earthan Ward, Florida Gators, Kermit Blount, Michael Johnson, Mitchell Lederman, Mose Rison, Old Dominion, Savannah State, Teryl White, Tim Tebow
Mike Potter ·
6 Nov 2009, 1:00 AM ·
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Duke coach David Cutcliffe says everywhere he goes in the Triangle, he's surrounded by Tar Heel fans. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
Duke football coach David Cutcliffe said he got a big surprise when he settled in in Durham a year and a half ago.
Once he got outside the campus walls, he found himself surrounded by fans of the University of North Carolina, the team his Blue Devils will take on in the annual Victory Bell game on Saturday at 3:30 at UNC’s Kenan Stadium.
The game between the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 ACC) and Tar Heels (5-3, 1-3) will be shown on ESPNU.
“I learned how close (the schools) were together, and I had no idea ’til I got here,” Cutcliffe said. “It’s amazing. And then every time whether I go into my little places I go, Target or Harris-Teeter, there’s nothing but North Carolina fans everywhere. I think I realized quickly that I was reconnaissance, not coach. Behind enemy lines, sending out reports, you know? It’s pretty amazing that you’re surrounded by so many fans of North Carolina.
“Go in there and look and see what they’re selling in the front of the store. Go in any of the sports stores and see what they’re selling. Obviously they’ve earned that. … I do get a lot of comments (from UNC fans), and I haven’t really had anybody be negative. But I get a lot of comments, and my wife tells me next time I don’t get to go. I get maybe one trip to Target and one to the grocery store a year. After that, I’m shut out.”
Cutcliffe said Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has been helpful to him in dealing with what is often called the “Battle of the Blues.”
“He has a great perspective on this rivalry, as you might imagine,” Cutcliffe said, recalling the first time he saw the two basketball teams square off at Cameron Indoor Stadium. “It’s been two unbelievably great (basketball) programs. I think one of the things that I remember most that impressed me was that Coach Krzyzewski had great respect for the type programs both Duke and North Carolina were in basketball. He said, ‘I hope it can turn into a rivalry for you guys.’ He said, ‘They’ve got good people, we’ve got good people. They do things right, we do things right. Let’s just settle it out there on the floor.’
“I was really impressed with that, and that’s the way any great rivalry should be. He wasn’t bad-mouthing North Carolina, none of that. He had nothing but positive things to say, just how much energy and how positive that rivalry was between Duke and North Carolina. I was overly impressed with his comments in that regard, because I’ve been around some of the uglier rivalries in college athletics. Then I went to that ball game and I couldn’t speak, hardly, just watching those kids compete in both programs and both coaches coach, and when the dust settled everyone went on their way. It was pretty impressive.”
Cutcliffe has announced his game captains for Saturday, and the list is no surprise. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill Abraham Kromah, David Cutcliffe, Donovan Varner, Johnny Williams, Kyle Hill, Lee Butler, Mike Krzyzewski, Mitchell Lederman, Thaddeus Lewis, Vince Oghobaase, Vincent Rey
Mike Potter ·
31 Oct 2009, 8:13 PM ·
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Duke’s football juggernaut keeps on rolling on.
Will Snyderwine (pictured) hit five field goals while Thaddeus Lewis overcame five sacks by the top-rated pass defense in the ACC as the Blue Devils got past host Virginia 28-17 at Scott Stadium.
It was the third straight victory for Duke, all in ACC, a feat the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 ACC) had not accomplished since 1989. The win means David Cutcliffe’s squad needs to win at least two of its last four games to qualify for the school’s first bowl bid since 1994, and with two wins a bowl invitation would be a mortal lock.
It was Duke’s second straight win on the road and third road win this season.
Lewis, who completed 24 of 40 passes for 343 yards against the ACC’s best pass defense, gave his team an 18-17 lead on a 42-yard pass to Connor Vernon with 3:45 left.
Charlie Hatcher then recovered a fumble from the Cavaliers’ Jameel Sewell 23 seconds later, returning it seven yards for a touchdown with Snyderwine’s boot making it 25-17.
After Virginia failed on fourth down, Snyderwine was able to remove all doubt by nailing a 42-yard field goal with 1:15 remaining.
Virginia (3-5, 2-2 ACC) dropped its second straight game and its second straight to Duke.
Duke’s defense again came up big, holding the Cavaliers to 196 yards total offense to the Blue Devils’ 423.
Sewell completed eight of 22 passes for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Vernon had seven catches for 106 yards, while Donovan Varner had seven for 112 for Duke.
ACC, Duke, Football Charlie Hatcher, Connor Vernon, David Cutcliffe, Donovan Varner, Jameel Sewell, Thaddeus Lewis, Virginia Cavaliers, Will Snyderwine
