As Duke gets ready for its bowl game, a key starter returns from injury

Duke is already getting ready for its upcoming bowl game – and with the practice comes good news on injuries.

Ben Humphreys, a junior linebacker who started the team’s first 10 games before suffering a leg injury on Nov. 11, is back practicing, and is likely to play against Northern Illinois in the Quick Lane Bowl on Dec. 26.

“I expect to see Ben able to play in the bowl game at this point,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said on Friday.

Humphreys hasn’t played since he was injured on the last play from scrimmage in Duke’s 21-15 loss at Army on Nov. 11. He missed the next two games – a 43-20 win over Georgia Tech on Nov. 18 and a 31-23 win over Wake Forest on Nov. 25.

In his third season as a starter, Humphreys recorded 64 tackles, including 29 solos, this season. He’s logged 8.5 tackles for losses, and he and defensive tackle Mike Ramsay lead the team in quarterback hurries with seven apiece.

Cutcliffe said Humphreys sat out of Duke’s bowl practice on Dec. 9. After the team took the next three days off, Humphreys showed dramatic improvement.

“We came back in Wednesday and it looked like magic,” Cutcliffe said. “He moved around really well. I thought he was in pretty good form.”

Also on Friday, Cutcliffe said redshirt senior William Holmquist will be the team’s kicker, and possibly its punter, for the Quick Lane Bowl. Austin Parker handled both duties this season before he was kicked off the team and suspended from school on Dec. 8 for violating Duke’s academic policy.

Holmquist kicked and punted at Division III Tufts University for three seasons before joining the Blue Devils as a graduate transfer walk-on this summer. While at Tufts, he made 21 of 31 field goals, including a 48-yarder, and connected on 57 of 62 extra-point kicks. He punted 153 times, averaging 36.9 yards per attempt, and showed accuracy with 41 punts downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line against seven touchbacks.

Born partially deaf, Holmquist wears hearing aids but removes them when playing football to sharpen his focus.

He lost the starting kicking job to Parker in preseason practices last August. But, on Nov. 18 against Georgia Tech, he made his only extra-point attempt of the season.

“Willie has been outstanding in the practices we’ve had,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s such a quality young man. He’s a great story, so I think he’ll definitely take advantage of this. I expect him to play really well in the game.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 4:51 PM with the headline "As Duke gets ready for its bowl game, a key starter returns from injury."