Quotes: Duke 41, Elon 27

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe

On performance in the third quarter

"I was really disappointed in our start in the third quarter. We went three and out and I can't really explain that one. I thought our team was a little flat and I didn't sense that coming out of the tunnel. From the locker room to the field, we just weren't there completely. We just stopped ourselves. It could have been as good of a performance as you could ever see from an offense. We dropped two touchdowns in the first half and squandered some opportunities in the third quarter. As far as quarterback play, you're not going to see and better from either sides of the field. "

On quarterback Sean Renfree

"Sean's an unusual young man. Coming in on the heels of [Thaddeus Lewis] is difficult. He quickly won his receivers over with his work ethic. Let's hope we can build on that. We have a lot of work to do in a lot of areas."

On Elon quarterback Scott Riddle

"We gave up way too many explosive plays. When you can get multiple turnovers and play aggressively, that's how we want to be. I was disappointed in our corner play and I think that's something we could have done better on, but seeing Matt [Daniels] come up with a great catch came up at an opportune time."

On next week's game against Wake Forest

"It was interesting walking into the locker room tonight because you don't ever want to be disappointed in a win. When I walked in there, they were as quiet as a church mouse. That's a good sign. They expect a lot of themselves. They didn't play well for sixty minutes. And we can do that. We're talented enough to play well for 60 minutes. And when you go into ACC play you have to be ready for that."

Duke sophomore receiver Conner Vernon

On Duke's offense:

"In the air, we knew what we had to do and we went out there and executed."

On the receivers fighting for extra yards:

"We know every yard counts, so we're not going to let one guy bring us down, ever. We just going to keep fighting, fighting go down when we're going to down and not take unnecessary hits. We're going to get our team every single yard that matters because in the end that could be the yard that matters. "

On playing with quarterback Sean Renfree:

"The timing feels great. This was what the whole off-season was, the preparation and everything. Sean [Renfree] had us out there all the time just getting in sync with him because he knew it was his time. He knew that this year was strictly on his shoulders and he went out there and proved it today what he could do. We just beat a really good football team and now we're going to sit on this, but tomorrow, it's back to the office because we got a great team in Wake Forest on Saturday. We're excited about that."

Duke redshirt senior middle linebacker Abraham Kromah:

On his interception in the fourth quarter:

"I don't think I caught it with one hand, but we can act like I did. The coaches put me in a great position. I was a hole player on that play, so all I had to do was sit back and do my part and I feel like this was all due to the coaches and the defense we had that made it possible for me to do what I was supposed to do."

On Elon quarterback Scott Riddle:

"That was very surprising because that guy is phenomenal . I have nothing but good things to say about him. It's one thing to see him on tape and it's another thing to play against him. He's a very good quarterback. I can honestly say that from the bottom of my heart. He was a special guy and I felt like we had to hit him on every play and just try to make the plays we were supposed to make when we had to."

On the new defensive scheme:

"It felt great. I feel like the mixture of the 4-3 and the 3-4 and all the multiple threats really played out well. We still have a lot of corrections to make. We'll find out from the tape; you never want to say too much until you see the tape. I feel like we have a lot of corrections to make, but the good thing about it is that if you're willing to work on those, you can become better. "

Duke redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Renfree:

On beginning the regular season:

"It was a lot fun tonight, that was the best part about it, that and winning."

On Duke's offensive performance:

"Our offensive line did a phenomenal job tonight; I only got hit a couple of times. Our receivers making plays after the catch all the way across the board and having a running game tonight was huge. We know we could give it to our running backs and be able to get first downs and all together it was a really well done job as an offensively as a unit."

On Duke's drive after Elon pulled within 20-27:

"There's a sense of urgency there. Everybody saw that we needed to get this thing going. We can't let Elon get back in this because they have a fantastic offense and they can score at any moment's notice. We can run and throw when we have to and guys responded to what Coach is asking them to do."

Elon Head Coach Pete Lembo

On having Duke in their schedule

"We try to schedule opponents that are a short drive for our fans and our students. We had a great turnout from our students, it was terrific. The other goal is to play schools that are academically similar to us. That's why you saw us play Wake Forest last year, Duke this year, and we have Vanderbilt coming up and we have Georgia Tech on the schedule. We will comeback here (Duke) in the year 2014, so that is part of our philosophy, we like it to be some place that we could drive to, our fans can be there, and our students can travel."

On his impression of Duke's team

"I think they wore us down a little. In my opinion we gave up too many big plays in the first half. I felt like we had three or four guys on defense that did not settle down and play the way they are capable of playing until the second half of the game. One of the things you know going in to a game like this is that they will have more depth. We expected them to run two or three running backs at us and it wore us down a little."

On the play of Duke quarterback Sean Renfree

"I was impressed on how accurate he was. I knew going in how good their receivers were and we have a respect for the speed and athleticism. However, I was impressed with how accurate he was with the football."