bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
MIAMI -- At Duke's weekly press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Coach David Cutcliffe about some people trying to belittle Thad Lewis' pursuit of the school's career yardage mark because it in some ways is a product of longevity.
"Anybody points that out and says something like, 'Well, he doesn't deserve the home run record because he's played 25 years,' now wait a minute," Cutcliffe said.
In Saturday's 34-16 loss at Miami, in the next-to-last game of Lewis' career, he earned the record and even more respect from his coach -- if that was even possible.
Lewis now has 9,678 passing yards, 64 yards more than Ben Bennett had from 1980-83. Lewis also moved into third place on the ACC's all-time listed with a 303-yard day, a day that Cutcliffe didn't think would include Lewis.
"I was amazed that Thad was available," Cutcliffe said of Lewis, who has been battling a painful thigh bruise. "He was unable to practice this week. We didn't advertise that -- and rightfully so.
"I was real thrilled when he told me Thursday morning that he could get in his car. That kind of gives you an indication of how sore he was and how limited."
Because of injuries and also because the only options behind him were Sean Schroeder -- who is hoping to redshirt -- and walk-on punter Alex King, Lewis wasn't his spry self. He didn't run the draws that often have been Duke's best rushing play, and he didn't make a lot of lateral moves to try to avoid Miami's rush.
But he was only sacked once, and he carved apart Miami's secondary at times -- just not enough times to pull out the victory.
"I wasn't able to shake a defender like I normally would or get out of the pocket like I normally would, but I did just enough," Lewis said. "I couldn't really make plays with my feet, but I made a lot of plays with my arm because the receivers did a great job of getting open."
Lewis will be one of nine Duke seniors wrapping up their college careers Saturday against Wake Forest. He needs 172 yards to pass Chris Weinke of Florida State for second place in passing yards in ACC history, and he needs 322 yards to join Philip Rivers of N.C. State as the only two to reach 10,000 yards (Rivers has 13,484).
After he managed to play at Miami, it's safe to assume that nothing will keep Lewis off the field for his swan song.
"He is a very courageous young man," Cutcliffe said. "He's the toughest guy you'll ever find in a football game."
