Mark Gilbert to David Cutcliffe: "I'm Not Coming Out" of Game
Duke got back a familiar face on defense with former All-ACC cornerback Mark Gilbert returning to the starting lineup after missing most of the last two years with a hip injury. He finished with seven tackles, second most on the team, and six solo stops, which led the Blue Devils.
“Mark was smiling on Friday,” coach David Cutcliffe said. “He was smiling on Saturday. He and I had a couple of times to talk. I know he was thrilled to be back. I think he played well. His coverage skills are outstanding. He really wasn’t rusty. He got into the physical fray, which we had him do some—live contact—here in camp. Not as much as you’d like but some. But I thought he did really well. He got a little banged up early and was not going to come out of that game. He told me, ‘I’m not coming out. I’m going to finish.’ He’s okay. It looks like he’s going to bounce right back. I think he’ll be much better this week than he was first week, because you get that nervousness, the butterflies will be somewhat gone this week.”
Cutcliffe was also impressed on the other side of the ball with first-time starter Chase Brice.
“I thought Chase played really well under difficult circumstances,” he said, “playing a really good team, a lot of challenging fronts, press coverage. He ade some great throws. We did mix it in and out, moved the ball around, got the ball on the perimeter and tried to get the ball down field.”
