Chase Brice, Deon Jackson Star in Duke's First Scrimmage

Duke held a 75-play scrimmage Saturday morning at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

"It was hot outside, but we had a good day," redshirt junior offensive lineman Casey Holman said. "We had a lot of healthy guys back and we figured out what we needed to do better and we had to give better effort, but we executed really well."

Duke was led by running backs Deon Jackson and Jordan Waters on the ground. A senior, Jackson led with 50 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns, scoring from two and 13 yards out. Waters, a redshirt freshman, finished with 88 yards on 12 attempts.

"Deon ran through people today," Holman continued. "He ran hard and didn't hesitate. He followed our guys that created the holes for him and ran with energy. He wanted it."

All three quarterbacks battling for the starting position took repetitions with the first unit. Clemson transfer Chase Brice completed six-of-nine throws for 151 yards and one touchdown. The yardage total included two long strikes -- a 53-yard scoring toss to sophomore Eli Pancol and a 42-yard completion to redshirt junior Damond Philyaw-Johnson.

Redshirt sophomore Gunnar Holmberg also had a passing touchdown with a 16-yard scoring throw to redshirt freshman tight end Matt Smith. Holmberg finished three-of-five for 23 yards the score. Redshirt junior Chris Katrenick was four-of-eight through the air for 49 yards.

The quarterbacks spread the ball across the field with senior tight end Noah Gray the only Duke receiver to have multiple receptions, with three catches for 20 yards.

Senior safety Michael Carter II and redshirt sophomore cornerback Jeremiah Lewis led the Duke defense with two pass breakups each. Redshirt junior cornerback Josh Blackwell returned a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown. Redshirt junior defensive end Chris Rumph II and redshirt freshman defensive end Caleb Oppan registered one quarterback sack each.

"I felt good out there," Carter II said. "Just being around the guys and feeding off each other, it was just good to be out there and sort of in a game simulation. Just to be live and all-out without any restraints was great."