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Courtesy: Duke Photography
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DURHAM, N.C. -- The first year is always important for an incoming freshman quarterback.
How a player handles the transition from the being a high school star to a freshman in college is crucial.
How will they handle learning a new offensive system?
How will they handle reading defenses created by coaches that have been scheming up ways to make QB’s lives miserable for years?
These questions were answered Saturday for Sean Renfree.
When Renfree committed to Duke last season he was the prized recruit in David Cutcliffe’s first class as head coach of the Blue Devils.
Renfree had all the accolades upon arriving at Duke
- Ranked as the No. 10 quarterback in the country by Scout.com
- Selected to the 2008 PARADE All-America team
- Named Arizona’s Big School Class 5A and 4A Player of the Year
- Led Notre Dame Prep to the 2007 Arizona 4AII state championship
- Threw for 3,353 yards and 41 touchdowns during his senior year
The Scottsdale, Ariz. native was red-shirted his freshman year, getting the opportunity to be a sponge on the sidelines and watch as Thaddeus Lewis ran the Duke offense in Cutcliffe’s first season.
Being able to get a year of college under his belt as well as study an offensive system that relies on the quarterback to make everything function was beneficial for Renfree.
“It was definitely helpful physically and mentally,” Renfree said. “To learn this offense takes some time and understanding. The thing with our coaches is they want you to understand. Last year was great getting to understand the offense, getting bigger physically and more fit.”
During Saturday’s spring game the Duke faithful saw for the first time, what his teammates have seen for the past year, how one of the top quarterback recruits in the country can perform in a helmet and shoulder pads.
“I have been telling you for a whole while that Sean is a good quarterback,” Lewis said. “He came in and is a student of the game. The weapons around him, and around us allow us to be better quarterbacks. Him being a student of the game helps him to transfer it out on the football field.”
He put his sharp football abilities on display Saturday, leading the White squad to a 24-17 win with Renfree completing 15-of-24 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
“I felt pretty comfortable today,” Renfree said. “Our defense was giving us pretty basic looks; obviously a big thing is understanding stuff. I feel comfortable. All the situations Coach puts me in are very manageable.”
Renfree led four scoring drives for the White team completing touchdown passes of 17 yards to both Matt Pridemore and Danny Parker.
During one stretch in the spring game Renfree completed 10 consecutive passes with seven of the 10 completions going for over 10 yards. His longest on the day was a 33-yard strike to Austin Kelly that set up his first touchdown pass of the game.
“Sean has got a knack,” Cutcliffe said. “He is one of the most accurate young quarterbacks that I have been around. I like the fact that he is very poised. He doesn’t rattle easily.
“I can’t rattle him. Coach [Kurt] Roper can’t rattle him, which is a good thing.”
It’s not that they have tried to make thing challenging for him, but in year two, he, along with Lewis, are much more prepared to fully grasp the offense.
For both quarterbacks the fact that the entire coaching staff from a year ago has returned allowing Lewis to learn from the same offensive coordinator for two years for the first time during his tenure at Duke.
Cutcliffe decided to go with just two quarterbacks on the roster for this season allowing both to take more snaps during practices.
“Just having two quarterbacks, all the reps you get is amazing,” the red-shirt freshman said. “If you were splitting it with somebody else it would be a whole lot different. You would get a lot less reps. Coach has been great putting me in all situations to improve and get better.”
While the coaches obviously want Renfree to succeed, so does Lewis, who has started his first three seasons and is the signal caller for Duke again this season in his senior year.
Renfree helps to push Lewis to be a better quarterback by competing with senior every day in practice.
Lewis looked good as well in the spring game completing 17-of-23 passes for 257 yards including two one-yard touchdown runs.
“You saw what we have seen from Thad all spring,” Cutcliffe said. “[He was] much more consistent [with] accuracy and execution.”
Though next year Lewis won’t be around, and Renfree will be the one leading the Blue Devils onto the football field on Saturdays with the pair rooting for one another to succeed because they know the success of one will benefit the other.
“God forbid anything happens, but this is a football team and it is a family,” Lewis said. “If something happens to somebody you want somebody else to be there to step in and keep this train moving.”
Renfree looks to be the conductor in waiting.
