Duke makes do with inordinate spring game

DURHAM – This might have been one of the rare times a football wasn’t exaggerating when he spoke of how dire a situation was.

“What you saw today was some of the limitations this spring with the offensive line,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “I thought those guys were heroes for 15 days.”

“The love and admiration of all their teammates,” Diaz added when asked if his makeshift spring offensive line would receive any special rewards.

Duke had the bare minimum of offensive linemen suited up for its Blue & White game on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils have eight offensive linemen on the roster and only five — Brian Parker II, Ethan Hubbard, Tony Boggs, Caleb Dorris and Matt Craycraft — were able to play in the game.

Reinforcements are on the way. Duke has five commits from transfers — Zachary Franks (Northwestern), James Pogorelc (Stanford), Mike Barr (Lafayette), Micah Sahakian (Cornell) and Eric Schon (Holy Cross). Those, plus three incoming freshmen — Gemyel Allen, Jack Small and Bradley Smith — means the Blue Devils will have a full position group in fall camp.

But “on the way” hasn’t translated to help now, or in any of the 14 spring practices over the past month.

That’s why the work of the players who are healthy has been appreciated.

“It makes you better. I applaud the linemen for that,” quarterback Maalik Murphy said. “I don’t know if you guys come out to the practices but they’re getting over 100 reps. Tony Boggs, my left guard, he’s losing 12 pounds in practice. That’s unheard of.

“This is not fall camp, it’s 70 degrees outside and he’s losing 12 pounds.”

Duke made do, which was all that could be asked for. For about half of the series in Saturday night’s game, there was an offensive line with the five offensive linemen suited up; for the other half, the offense lined up without a line, the defense had a full assortment, and the defensive line took a few steps forward at the snap and stopped there.

Murphy, the 6-5, 235-pound specimen who transferred from Texas, was as advertised — and that means good and bad things. He has a cannon of a right arm and uncorked several deep throws, connecting on a few of them. His 26-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Moore, who high-pointed the ball and won a wrestling match with Chandler Rivers on the ground to complete the catch, was the only touchdown.

But Murphy also missed two potential touchdowns because of overthrows, once to Eli Pancol and another time to Moore, both in the first half when the receivers were open.

“I think I’ve got a lot of work to do, honestly,” Murphy said. “I feel like my teammates will vouch for that. They know how bad I want to win. … I know I’ve got to get better, because I’m not perfect, of course. It’s just a lot of work to do, missing throws, all assignments weren’t done the way to our standard.”

Duke’s defense won the scrimmage under a modified scoring system, 21-16. The biggest play by the defense was an interception by Vontae Floyd — one of three early enrollee cornerbacks — late in the game.

Kicker Todd Pelino made field goals from 53 and 49 yards; the longest field goal he’s made in a game was 52 yards.

EXTRA POINTS: Freshman receiver Jayden Moore, Jordan’s brother, went down with an apparent injury early in the spring game. In a 1-on-1 drill, he went down with a non-contact injury and was eventually carted off the field. … That drill was one of two “ring the bell” drills of this practice; the defensive backs won 9-8 in those drills, while the offensive line, tight ends and running backs won their version of “ring the bell” in pass-blocking 1-on-1 reps. … Murphy, Grayson Loftis and walk-on Donald Tomlin were the only quarterbacks to enter the game.