David Cutcliffe on What He Expects From Duke's Quarterback

Coach discusses how QB can solve problems on offense

Duke’s offense has struggled with turnovers and finishing drives this season. The Blue Devils had seven turnovers in a loss at Virginia last weekend. Chase Brice has thrown six interceptions and fumbled once in three games.

Coach David Cutcliffe talked about what he expects from his quarterback as Duke prepares to face Virginia Tech at home on Saturday.

“I think a couple things,” he said. “Number one, just flawless in the run game. The mechanics of everything we’re doing in the run game—we’ve got to make great exchanges, great fakes, put ourselves in position to be successful. That one position can make 10 people right. Our quarterback plays a great role in that regard, verbally and otherwise in the run game.”

Obviously, the quarterback also plays a key role in the passing game as well. Duke has struggled with pass protection at times this season, but Coach Cut said that the quarterback can help in that regard too.

“Secondly, in the passing game, is to be true to our progression reads,” Cutcliffe said. “If you read progressions and you get into progressions, you’re going to have a lot of times where the ball’s going to get out of your hand and you throw the ball to an open receiver before you get into trouble. So just throwing the ball on time, going though our progression reads will prevent late throws, some form of force or taking risks with the football. So we’ve got to play faster. We’ve got to play within our system. If we do those things, we will reap the benefits of a good offensive team.”