Why Chase Brice Won the Duke QB Job

On the first night of game week, David Cutcliffe announced his starting quarterback for the opener at Notre Dame. Clemson transfer Chase Brice beat out Chris Katrenick and Gunnar Holmberg.

In a statement, Cutcliffe said that Brice made more plays during camp. He expanded on that in his Monday press conference.

“I think it changed weekly,” he said of what gave Brice the edge. “One of the things, it took a bit, because two guys competing for the job (Katrenick and Holmberg) knew the system. I think Chase, as he got more comfortable with our system, what you started seeing was his experience. He’s played a lot more football at this level than the other two. He’s has played a lot of games and game time at Clemson. You can see that. He was feeling natural in the pocket and he got more comfortable in his accuracy level on deep balls, intermediate, short, layoffs. He just became a more and more comfortable quarterback. As (last) week closed out, I think it became more obvious.”

With the entire offseason truncated, it was tough to let the quarterback competition play out.

“Chris and Gunnar both played outstanding. They’re talented players doing everything we asked of them,” Cutcliffe said. “Certainly, circumstances are going to be fluid. We have a team that hasn’t played. They didn’t have a spring practice, didn’t scrimmage as much as in the past. We haven’t had a normal camp. We just have to go play games. I think Chase earned this start, without a doubt.”

The backup spot is still going to be shared, however.

“It’s completely fluid right now,” Cutcliffe said, “depending on situations, game circumstances. Both guys have great strengths. Chris Katrenick is a master of the system. He throws the ball really well. Gunnar is throwing really well and gives us the dual threat lot of speed. They’re bracketed as a number two, truly bracketed. There’s no three. We’ve got a starting quarterback and two backups.”

While Cutcliffe often has a backup come in for short yardage and goal line plays, he didn’t think the Blue Devils would resort to that in the opener.

“It’s always a possibility,” he said, “but right now, it’s not on the highest priority level for this ball game. … The time we can put in is more limited than what it’s been in the past. It’s certainly possible to see either one of them in this game, but I’m not ready to say going into the game. We’ve got a starter. We’re going to go play that way. I think that’s best approach to start the season.”