Revisiting the Duke Quarterback Battle: Chase Brice

Chase Brice won the Duke quarterback battle in the final week of preseason fall camp, beating out Chris Katrenick and Gunnar Holmberg for the starting job.

Now, three weeks later, there’s a good chance that the decision is going to be rethought before Duke plays Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Immediately after the game, coach David Cutcliffe didn’t confirm that he would rethink the starting job, saying he needed to watch film and see exactly what happened. He did point out, however, that all three quarterbacks get work each week and that he would evaluate that position, along with every other one on the roster.

In the preseason, we took an in depth look at each candidate. Now, with three games in the book, we revisit each of them to see what’s changed and who offers Duke the best chance of turning around its season.

That was then: The graduate transfer from Clemson won the job due to his accuracy and ball security, according to Cutcliffe’s comments at the end of camp. He seemed to have the highest ceiling, and Cutcliffe raved about his arm and decision making.

This is now: The first three games haven’t gone well for Brice. He’s struggled with accuracy, completing just 51 percent of his passes, bottoming out with a 16-of-36 outing against Virginia on Saturday. He has struggled with pressure from pass rush, rushing things and overthrowing receivers.

He’s also struggled in the red zone. While Brice moved the team up and down the field in the first two games, he didn’t throw a touchdown pass until game three.

The biggest problem Brice has faced, however, has been turnovers. He threw two interceptions and fumbled once against Boston College and threw four picks against UVA. At least two of the throws were into double coverage, and he also has had several near interceptions where he took unnecessary risks while under pressure. Once, on Saturday, he scrambled away from a rusher, then threw off of his wrong foot, over the head of a nearby outlet receiver and off the hands of a Virginia defender.

Can he be the answer? In the long term, Brice likely still has the highest ceiling, but the damage to his psyche may require him to spend some time off of the hot seat while someone else takes the helm.

We'll take a look at each of Duke's other quarterback options in this multi-part series.