COLLEGE FOOTBALL LOOK AHEAD

Lindy’s Top 40 Countdown: No. 35 Duke

Lindyssports.com Staff

July 16, 2014 at 11:59 am.

Anthony Boone (7) will be a key cog in Duke's offense in 2014. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

BLUE DEVILS at a GLANCE

LOCATION: Durham, N.C.

COACH: David Cutcliffe — At Duke: 31-44, 6 years; overall: 75-73, 12 years

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Scottie Montgomery

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Jim Knowles

LAST LEAGUE TITLE: 1989, co-champs

LAST TIME DIDN’T GO BOWLING: 2011

RETURNING STARTERS: 16, 8 offense, 6 defense, kicker, punter

PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Anthony Boone, WR Jamison Crowder, TE Braxton Deaver, RG Laken Tomlinson, LB Kelby Brown,LB David Helton, S Jeremy Cash

PRIMARY STRENGTHS: Duke returns the bulk of its skill players, led by Boone and Crowder, an All-ACC pick. Three starters are back on the offensive line, including Tomlinson, who has an NFL future. Duke misses Florida State, Clemson and Louisville — perhaps the ACC’s three top teams.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: The Blue Devils took a graduation hit along the defensive front, with three of four starters gone. This had been a chronic area of concern while Cutcliffe built the pro- gram. After such a great season in 2013, the Blue Devils will have to prove they have depth.

OFFENSE

A unit that produced 32.8 points per game last season to fuel Duke’s improbable run to the ACC Coastal Division championship returns the majority of its playmakers.

Quarterback Anthony Boone and wide receiver Jamison Crowder form one of the league’s most potent combinations. Tight end Braxton Deaver, a second-team All-ACC pick, is a weapon as well.

Duke will have to adjust to the April transfer of quarterback Brandon Connette, who played in a two-quarterback system with Boone. Connette set Duke’s record for career rushing touchdowns (31).

Thomas Sirk sat out 2012 as a redshirt and missed 2013 with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. He’s healthy and will step into the No. 2 quarterback job.

The Blue Devils suffered a setback when Jela Duncan, the team’s leading rusher in each of the last two seasons, was suspended from school for an academic issue. Senior Josh Snead (107 carries, 651 yards) and junior Shaquille Powell are solid options.

The line lost senior stalwarts in left guard Dave Harding and right tackle Perry Simmons. But seniors Takoby Cofield (left tackle) and Laken Tomlinson (right guard) will anchor the group.

DEFENSE

Long an area of concern, Duke’s defensive line was the picture of stability in the breakout season last fall. The same four players started every game, but only nose guard Jamal Bruce returns from that group.

Key reserves from last season, such as defensive ends Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo and Dezmond Johnson, will be asked to step up their production.

The Blue Devils also lost two-time All-ACC cornerback Ross Cockrell. But athletic sophomores Breon Borders and Bryon Fields are ready to step in after impressing as freshmen.

Linebackers Kelby Brown and David Helton, along with safety Jeremy Cash, figure to be the backbone of the defense. Helton led the ACC in tackles per game (9.5), while Brown was second at 8.8.

Cash, a transfer from Ohio State, had 121 tackles (8.4 per game) and four interceptions in his first season at Duke.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker Ross Martin and punter Will Monday, both juniors, enter their third year as starters.

Martin is 23 of 27 on field-goal attempts from inside 40 yards. He also has made four field goals of 50 yards or longer. Monday, a second-team All-ACC selection last season, has a career average of 43.7 yards.

Crowder and Edwards were named All-Americans for their return work. Edwards averaged 30.2 yards per kick return, scoring two touchdowns. Crowder returned two punts for touchdowns.

Overview

Coming off the program’s first 10-win season and having been to bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time, Duke has established itself as a player in the Coastal Division.

Duke will have the firepower to be a bowl team again, but personnel losses on defense, particularly along the front line, raise questions about its ability to make it back to the ACC Championship Game.

TOP NEWCOMER

RB Joseph Ajeigbe: The Blue Devils lost their leading rusher, Jela Duncan, to an academic dis- missal. Josh Snead and Shaquille Powell are back, but the team will need Ajeigbe, a redshirt fresh- man, to be productive as Duke prefers to liberally rotate running backs.