Two entrants in Duke’s QB derby battle this spring while a third will join them by May
A career reserve, Duke’s Chris Katrenick is getting his shot as a No. 1 quarterback this spring.
After a knee injury wiped out his 2019 season, Gunnar Holmberg is healthy and getting a copious amount of snaps at quarterback as well as the Blue Devils began spring practices this week.
A couple hundred miles away, Chase Brice monitors it all via modern technology, staying in touch with Duke’s coaches so he can stay as up to speed as possible while he completes his Clemson degree before enrolling at Duke this summer.
Tasked with replacing departing starting quarterback Quentin Harris, the Blue Devils find themselves in a complicated situation as they decide who will be their new starter this fall.
Katrenick and Holmberg have experience in Duke coach David Cutcliffe’s program but haven’t had enough game repetitions to establish themselves as a clear-cut choice. A transfer, Brice has game experience but can’t participate in Duke’s spring drills because he’s yet to graduate from Clemson.
So Katrenick and Holmberg go through spring knowing their biggest battle for playing time won’t come until August when preseason practices begin.
Cutcliffe, though, still sees the work the offense gets this spring as highly important, even though the potential starting quarterback might not be on campus.
“I will tell you this,” Cutcliffe said, “any football coach will tell you this, you are only as good as your team is in spring ball. Their opportunity exists right now.”
A redshirt senior, Harris started all 12 games last season as Duke went 5-7, missing a bowl game for just the second time in the last eight seasons. Cutcliffe, though, said Holmberg was set to compete for playing time had the redshirt freshman from Wake Forest Heritage High not injured his right knee in an August practice.
“Gunnar was competing to be a player, no question,” Cutcliffe said.
His healing knee never allowed him to be fully cleared for practices last season, delaying Holmberg’s development. He’s only played in one college game, having taken a few snaps late in Duke’s 56-27 Independence Bowl win over Temple on Dec. 27, 2018.
Now fully healthy, Holmberg said the competition with Katrenick now and Brice in the future will help him.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Holmberg said. “(Katrenick) and I are good friends. On the field, off the field, we are trying to make each other better. We talk about things but we are definitely out there competing against each other. It either makes you better or makes you worse.”
Katrenick has played in seven career games in his first three seasons with the Blue Devils. He played in five games last season, completing 3 of 13 passes.
But, until Brice follows through with his plans to transfer by enrolling at Duke, Katrenick is the most experienced quarterback the Blue Devils have.
Spring practice gives Katrenick and Holmberg a head start on proving themselves.
“The biggest work is falling on Chris and Gunnar,” Cutcliffe said. “Now’s the time.”
A third scholarship quarterback, freshman Luca Diamont, is also participating this spring. But a recent elbow surgery means he’s not able to throw in practice yet. Brice played in 13 games behind Clemson’s all-ACC quarterback Trevor Lawrence last season. Brice completed 50 of 85 passes (58.8 percent) for 581 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
With Lawrence returning for his junior season, Brice is completing his degree requirements this May and he decided to take the graduate transfer route to have a chance at being a starting quarterback.
He committed to Duke Feb. 2 after visiting campus.
“As far as Chase goes,” Cutcliffe said, “obviously we are looking forward to getting him in here. It will be before summer. But it won’t be until he’s finished with his classes. He knows this, he has to come in here and compete. Nothing is handed to anyone.”
Brice is learning plenty about Cutcliffe’s offense even if he’s not on campus yet.
“You always have technology today so he’s getting a lot of information,” Cutcliffe said. “Everything we can legally do, we are doing. So he’s willing to study. He’s hungry. We have phone conversations. There’s all the things you can do. I’ve got to be respectful of the fact that he’s a full-time student at another university. He’s busy. But he’s a sponge. So we will continually be in that mode.”