By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

DURHAM -- Walk-on Will Snyderwine will handle all of Duke's placekicking duties when the Blue Devils travel to Army on Saturday.

"He had a tremendous week this week both placekicking and with kickoffs, and he had a tremendous day today," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said Thursday. "He's earned that opportunity.

"We'll see what he does with it."

Sndyerwine was slated to split duties with 2008 starter Nick Maggio in Saturday's season opener against Richmond, with Maggio handling kicks inside of 40 yards and Snyderwine handling longer kicks. While Snyderwine's only opportunity came on a late PAT, Maggio -- who went 11-of-14 on field goals in 2008 -- missed kicks from 36 and 38 yards.

"I felt good warming up for the game, and I had my best week leading up to it," Maggio said. "I pushed it on the first one, and on the second one I tried to overcompensate and pulled it left."

Maggio was trying to come back from a broken jaw he suffered in a softball game in late July, when a teammate hit a line drive back at Maggio on the mound that hit him hard enough to spin him in a circle.

Maggio had a metal plate and screws inserted into the left side of his face and jaw and had his jaw wired shut for two weeks. Limited to protein shakes and an unfortunate experience with blended macaroni and cheese, Maggio went from 205 pounds to 180.

"I've gained about half of it back," Maggio said. "I'm trying to get it all back, trying to get muscle back, because I really couldn't do anything for three or four weeks. I had worked real hard in the offseason and had gotten a lot stronger, and that zapped a lot out of me."

Sndyerwine joined the Duke program a month into the 2007 season, when former Duke coach Ted Roof held an open tryout for kickers in light of the significant struggles of then-starter Joe Surgan. Snyderwine was invited to join the team, and Maggio, a backup punter at the time, took over as starting kicker.

Snyderwine was second string behind Maggio at kicker last year and behind Surgan on kickoffs but never saw any game action.

He earned the kickoff job and the opportunity to kick longer field goals for the Richmond game thanks in part to a summer that included time spent with Duke punter Kevin Jones' private kicking coach, Chris Sailer, at a couple of Sailer's kicking camps.

"It really helped me refine a lot of my skills," Snyderwine said. "I also really worked hard with Coach [Noel] Durfey in the weight room and just developed my leg strength.

"I made a 66-yarder over the summer, and I almost made one from 70. It was just a couple of inches short -- but it was windy that day."

Weather could be a factor at Army on Saturday: There's a 60 percent chance of rain at West Point.

Gattis shows some skills

Cutcliffe calls his scout team the "show team," and Hillside High School product Corey Gattis certainly showed Cutcliffe something while running Army's triple-option offense.

"Corey Gattis looks pretty good in that offense at quarterback," Cutcliffe said of the true freshman, who is listed as a wide receiver. "You're never going to completely simulate Army or anyone that runs that offense, but they came about as close as any group I've seen.

"That should help us going into this game."

Quick hitters

Cutcliffe said the Blue Devils will have to be more physical than they were in the opener, citing two bone-jarring hits by redshirt freshman Jordon Byas' on kickoffs as examples. "I told Jordon's daddy Friday night at the hotel, 'Jordon has been a little banged up, but I can promise you that he will hit somebody tomorrow. Trust me,' " Cutcliffe said. "Well, I felt like a prophet, good gracious. I was trying to find his father in the stands." ... Cornerback Randez James (hand) and running back Kyle Griswould (leg) will again be out of action.