Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk makes plays, progress

Duke has needed Thomas Sirk to make plays at the end of each of the past two ACC games and each time the junior quarterback has delivered.

The Blue Devils (6-2, 3-1 ACC) will need the first-year starter to take another step against No. 21 North Carolina (7-1, 4-0 ACC) on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

That’s fine by Sirk, the only ACC quarterback to lead his team in passing and rushing. The fourth-year junior from Glen Saint Mary, Fla., is getting more comfortable in the offense and more confident with each week. But Sirk’s not looking for credit for Duke’s recent propensity for late rallies.

“I don’t think it’s about me as an individual; I think our team has grown,” Sirk said on Tuesday.

Duke coach David Cutcliffe, known for his coaching chops with the quarterback position, sees Sirk’s late-game production another way.

The Devils trailed Miami 24-12 with 5:49 left in the fourth quarter. They needed two touchdown drives to get in position to win the game – before the wild, controversial finish on the kickoff return by the Hurricanes – and Sirk delivered.

“That’s hard to match if you’ve been playing 15 years in the National Football league,” Cutcliffe said. “That was an incredible couple of drives right there. Hopefully we’ll build off that. We’ll need it down the stretch.”

On the final two drives of the Miami game, Sirk completed 12 of 19 attempts for 114 yards. He had a 13-yard touchdown pass to Johnell Barnes to cut Miami’s lead to 24-19 and then a 1-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds left – plus a rush for a successful 2-point conversion – to give Duke a 27-24 lead.

Sirk finished the Miami loss with 258 passing yards (31 of 52) and with 51 rushing yards on 13 attempts.

A week earlier in a 45-43 overtime win at Virginia Tech, he had four touchdown passes and 109 rushing yards, both career-best marks.

Twice Duke trailed in overtime and needed a touchdown to extend or win the game, and twice Sirk delivered. In the second overtime, he hit receiver Anthony Nash on a 4-yard touchdown to tie the game at 34.

In the fourth overtime, with Duke down 43-37, he found tight end Erich Schneider for a 25-yard touchdown and then ran in the 2-point conversion for the game winner.

Sirk credits Cutcliffe, and the practice scenarios and preparation, for his improvement. After a quick start against Tulane and N.C. Central, Sirk and the Duke offense hit a lull. In a four-game stretch, Sirk didn’t throw for more than 200 yards and had two touchdown passes and three interceptions.

“We believe in everything he says,” Sirk said of Cutcliffe. “If he says it, we do it.”

And Sirk has been a “sponge,” Cutcliffe said, eager to listen and learn.

“He wants to soak it up,” Cutcliffe said.

Through eight games, Sirk’s numbers as a first-year starter are remarkably similar to Anthony Boone’s last year. Boone, a senior last year, had started for two years for the Blue Devils.

Cutcliffe noted that Sirk was “ahead of schedule” for a quarterback with his experience. Practice and film-study habits have helped Sirk. A change-of-pace last year to Boone, Sirk ran for eight touchdowns but entered the season with only 14 passing attempts.

But there is no substitution for actual game time.

“The more games (you play), the more you start to notice tendencies and coverages,” Sirk said. “You feel more comfortable. I wouldn’t say you know what a defense is going to do, because they can change up any time, but you definitely have a realization of the scheme.”

There have been some bumps in the road – notably a 19-10 home loss to Northwestern on Sept. 19 – as there are for any first-time starter, but Sirk’s progress has not been lost on his teammates.

“(His confidence) has skyrocketed from where we were in the first half of the season,” senior center Matt Skura said. “I think he was still trying to learn a lot about himself, who he is as a player, what it takes to be a starting quarterback and be successful.

“I think he’s really confident right now, he’s playing extremely well, at a high level, and I think he’ll continue that for the rest of the season.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk makes plays, progress."