bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
DURHAM -- When Duke coach David Cutcliffe accepted the job nearly two years ago, he inherited a team full of players who were recruited by the previous coaching staff.
Yet as a small but significant class of nine seniors prepares to play its final game, there's little doubt that the players that Cutcliffe adopted upon his arrival are family now.
"I feel like they're our own. Two years with them, [and] I absolutely feel like they're our own," Cutcliffe said. "I have just as strong a feeling for those seniors now as any seniors I've had from start to finish. That's how strongly I feel about them."
The nine seniors, all key contributors for multiple seasons, will wrap up their college careers Saturday when Wake Forest visits Wallace Wade Stadium (noon, WRAL).
Like so many classes before them, this one arrived at Duke intent on turning the program around. Unlike so many before, they can point to concrete numbers that suggest they've done just that.
"I would say we are the class that helped turn Duke football, but we didn't do it ourselves," record-setting quarterback Thad Lewis said. "One of the missing pieces to the puzzle was Coach Cutcliffe, him coming in and instilling what he's instilled.
"That helped us become the class to help turn Duke football around."
Before Cutcliffe's arrival, the current seniors had won one game in two years, but they've won 10 over the past two years and have a chance to make it 11. The most recent time Duke won more than 11 games over the course of two seasons was 1989-90.
"When we came in, they were sophomores and they were 1-and-23," Cutcliffe said of the class record. "I don't know if anybody anywhere can appreciate what they've done -- and not just now. When you're getting beat every week, but you go back out and spill your guts and prepare and fight -- which they've done -- they've set a precedent for young people.
"This group has endured some difficult times; thank goodness they've been able to celebrate some good times."
Cutcliffe added that even with the spike in victories, the group's contributions go well beyond the numbers and will reverberate beyond their final snaps Saturday.
"It's not just what you do on Saturday; it's not even what you do on the practice field alone," he said. "They have high marks in their conditioning work and in their summer passing work that they set up and organized themselves.
"These kids work hard in school, too. It's the only place I've ever been where we have kids staying up, having to finish papers on Friday night. They bring their laptop and go to work. They're pretty special folks."
After Duke's loss at Miami on Saturday, which eliminated the Blue Devils (5-6, 3-4 ACC) from contention for a bowl game, Cutcliffe bemoaned that the seniors wouldn't get a chance to experience postseason play.
Even so, if Duke qualifies for a bowl in the near future, these seniors will know they played a part.
"Their bowl dreams have slipped away, but no parts of what they've built in a two-year period have slipped away," Cutcliffe said. "They are champions."
NOTES -- Cutcliffe announced Tuesday that five fourth-year juniors -- wide receiver Sheldon Bell, receiver-turned-defensive end Jeremy Ringfield, linebacker Andrew Holoman and offensive linemen Robert Drum and Jeffrey Cowart -- who are poised to graduate and won't return for a fifth year will take part in senior day festivities. ... Cutcliffe said Sean Renfree, next year's likely starter at quarterback, underwent successful surgery Monday on the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee suffered Nov. 14 against Georgia Tech. Cutcliffe said Renfree should be healed well before camp in August and even suggested he might be ready to take part in some capacity in spring practice. ... Cutcliffe said that there's almost no chance now that he'll burn quarterback Sean Schroeder's redshirt season if Lewis has to leave Saturday's game. ... Tickets for the game have been reduced in price to $15 and may be purchased by calling 1-877-375-3853 or at goduke.com/tickets.
