Associated Press
LAWRENCE, Kan. ó After working all year to improve their pass rush, the Kansas Jayhawks got thrown a bit of a curve this week.
Just which Duke quarterback will they be rushing today?
Will it be Thad Lewis, the Blue Devils’ starter coming into the season? Or will it be Sean Renfree, who came off the bench at Army last week and in his first collegiate action hit 7 of 8 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns?
Coach David Cutcliffe says the answer is both. The underdogs from the ACC will alternate quarterbacks against No. 22 Kansas and defensive end Maxwell Onyegbule, who had two of the Jayhawks’ six sacks last week against UTEP.
Lewis will continue to start, Cutcliffe said.
“The circumstances are like a pitcher in baseball,” the coach said. “If the pitcher needs relief help, he’s going to get relief help. If he can pitch a complete game, then he’s going to be left in there. But you can see now why I’ve been saying all along that regardless of play, I wanted Sean Renfree to play.”
The Blue Devils’ starter for the fourth year, Lewis missed 11 of his 16 passes before Renfree helped lead a 21-point, fourth-quarter rally. The rush to victory was also helped by Leon Wright, a senior cornerback who returned two interceptions for TDs.
Lewis figured the snaps could be taken by whoever is on target at the time.
“I guess it’s who has the hot hand at the time or how coach is feeling,” he said. “So you never know. You always be prepared. But it doesn’t matter. If he’s in or I’m in, we’re both pulling for each other. The only thing we want to make sure is that the offense is clicking the way it needs to be, whoever is in the game.”
Whoever is in the game will be facing a defense that’s taken the quarterback down nine times in just two games.