Notes: Wake Forest 45, Duke 34

11/28/2009 4:00:00 PM | Football

By: Duke Sports Information

Duke vs. Wake Forest Notes
Saturday, November 28, 2009

Pregame:

Game captains: Duke – Thaddeus Lewis, Vincent Rey, Vince Oghobaase, Leon Wright, Re'quan Boyette, Ayanga Okpokowuruk
Wake Forest – Riley Skinner, John Russell

Wake Forest won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Blue Devils received and defended the south endzone to start the game.

Weather at kickoff: 51 degrees, sunny, 37-percent humidity, wind W at 6 mph

Duke Game Starters: Offense – QB Thaddeus Lewis, RB Re'quan Boyette, WR Austin Kelly, WR Donovan Varner, WR Conner Vernon, TE Brett Huffman, LT Kyle Hill, LG Brandon Harper, C Bryan Morgan, RG Brian Moore, RT Jarrod Holt; Defense – LDE Patrick Egboh, DT Kinney Rucker, NG Charlie Hatcher, RDE Ayanga Okpokowuruk, MLB Vincent Rey, WLB Damian Thornton, CB Leon Wright, CB Chris Rwabukamba, CB Lee Butler, LS Jordon Byas, RS Matt Daniels.

Wake Forest 45, Duke 34

Senior Day
The Blue Devils honored 15 players for Senior Day prior to Saturday's game against Wake Forest. Among the players honored were Sheldon Bell, Re'quan Boyette, Jeffrey Cowart, Robert Drum, Catron Gainey, Andrew Holoman, Jarrod Holt, Thaddeus Lewis, Marcus Lind, Vince Oghobaase, Ayanga Okpokowuruk, Vincent Rey, Jeremy Ringfield, Kinney Rucker, Leon Wright.

Opening Drive Score
Duke drove 58 yards in three plays on its opening drive, capped by a 56-yard touchdown pass from Thaddeus Lewis to Donovan Varner. The Blue Devils have scored touchdowns on five of their 12 opening drives this season and have scored points in six games.

Lewis Becomes 60th NCAA Player To Reach 10,000 Career Passing Yards
Senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis became the 60th quarterback in NCAA Division I history to throw for over 10,000 career yards. Lewis is the second player in ACC history with over 10,000 yards, joining N.C. State's Philip Rivers. He is the eighth player this season to eclipse the 10,000-yard mark. Lewis finished his career with 10,065 yards.

Lewis Third Duke Player To 3,000 Passing Yards
Lewis became the third Duke quarterback to throw for over 3,000 yards in one season. It is the fourth 3,000-yard season in school history. Lewis finished the season with 3,330 yards to rank second on Duke's single season lists.

Lewis Finishes Record-Breaking Career
Lewis ended his career with 46 starts and 47 games played. He completed 877-for-1,510 pass attempts for 10,065 yards, 67 touchdowns and 40 interceptions.

Lewis Moves Up ACC Passing Touchdowns List
Lewis threw three touchdown passes to give him 67 career touchdown passes and 20 this season. He moves into fourth in ACC history in career touchdown passes, moving past Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton. The 20 scoring tosses rank tied for third in Duke single season history. It was his 19th career game with two or more touchdown passes and seventh career contest with three or more.

Ninth Rushing Touchdown For Lewis
A 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for Lewis, gave him four rushing touchdowns this season and nine in his career. His four total touchdowns on the day extended his school record for touchdown responsibility to 76 total touchdowns.

300-Yard Games For Lewis
With 387 passing yards, Lewis broke his tie for the school record for career 300-yard games, passing Anthony Dilweg with his 11th career 300-yard game. The 11 games with 300 or more yards rank tied for fourth in ACC history with Scott Milanovich of Maryland. He has thrown for 300 or more yards in seven games this year, the second most in a single season at Duke.

Varner Notches Fifth 100-Yard Receiving Game
Sophomore wide receiver Donovan Varner recorded his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season with career highs of 174 yards and 11 catches. His 174 yards tied for the 13th highest single game total in school history. He is tied for third on Duke's single season list with five 100-yard games and tied for fifth for a career at Duke. All five 100-yard games have come in ACC play. In eight ACC games, Varner recorded 49 catches for 861 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 6.13 catches and 107.6 yards per game in conference play.

1,000-Yard Season For Varner
Varner became the third player at Duke to go over 1,000 receiving yards in a season with his 11 catches for 174 yards. He finished the year with 1,047 receiving yards, the fifth most in a single season. There have been five total 1,000-yard performances with three by Clarkston Hines (1987-89) and one by Wes Chesson (1970). Varner's 65 catches on the year rank tied for fifth most in a single season with Henley Carter (1968).

Varner Catches 8th TD Pass
Varner finished the day with two touchdown receptions to total eight for the season. The eight touchdown catches move Varner into a tie for seventh on Duke's single season receiving touchdowns list. He had two games with two TD receptions, also recording two against N.C. Central.

Kelly Hauls In Fourth TD Catch
Junior wide receiver Austin Kelly caught a 62-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for his fourth TD reception of the year. He now has five in his career. He also caught TD passes against Richmond, Virginia Tech and N.C. State this season.

Vernon Among Top ACC Freshmen
True freshman Conner Vernon ended his first season as one of the top freshman receivers in ACC history. He ranks third on the conference records list with 55 catches and 746 yards. Both totals are school records. He also ranks tied for fourth on Duke's freshman list with three touchdowns.

Three Players With 50 or More Receptions
For the first time in school history the Blue Devils had three receivers with 50 or more catches. Varner (65), Vernon (55) and Kelly (54) all caught at least 50 passes. The only other three seasons with two players catching 50 passes was 1983, 1987 and 1988. Varner and Vernon's combined 120 receptions broke the school record for most receptions by two wide receivers in one season.

Two Players With Over 700 Receiving Yards
Varner and Vernon each went over 700 receiving yards for the season, becoming just the fourth duo in school history to each post 700+ yards. Varner ended the year with 1,047 yards and Vernon tallied 746 yards.

Scott 7th Freshman To Lead Team In Rushing
True freshman Desmond Scott became the seventh freshman in Duke history to lead the team in rushing. Scott finished with 70 carries for 262 yards and one touchdown.

Scott And Vernon Move Up All-Purpose Yards List
Freshman running back Desmond Scott and freshman receiver Conner Vernon rank among the top six in all-purpose yards for a freshman in Duke single season history. Scott finished the day with 252 all-purpose yards to move to sixth on the list. Vernon caught eight passes for 93 yards to push his season total to 1,041 for third among freshmen in a single season.

Scott Records A Career-High Mark In Kickoff Returns
Scott returned seven kickoffs for a career-high 211 yards, including a long return of 68 yards. His 211 yards rank third all-time in Duke single game history. The seven kickoff returns are tied for second on Duke's single game records list.

Long Plays
The Blue Devils had three plays of 50 or more yards to give them seven 50+ plays on the season. Duke had a 56-yard pass from Lewis to Varner and a 62-yard throw from Lewis to Kelly. Varner has three catches of over 50 yards and Kelly has two catches of over 50 yards. Scott returned a kickoff for 68 yards in the fourth quarter.

Rey Double Digit Tackles
Senior linebacker Vincent Rey recorded a team-high 11 tackles for his 16th career game with at least 10 stops. He has reached double digit tackles in four games this season. Rey finished his career with 330 tackles to rank 11th all-time at Duke.

Okpokowuruk Records Team-High Sixth Sack
Senior defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk registered his team-leading sixth sack of the year at the end of the first half. He now has 11 career sacks. He had 2.5 tackles for loss to give him a team-best 10.5 TFLs in 2009.

Snyderwine Breaks School Records
Junior walk-on Will Snyderwine broke Duke's school record for made field goals in a single season (17) and season field goal percentage (.850). He made each of his two field goal attempts on the day, converting kicks of 51 and 33 yards. Snyderwine passed Sims Lenhardt who made 16 field goals in both 1997 and 1998. The 51-yard field goal was a career high for Snyderwine. His previous high was 49 last week at Miami. The previous school record for percentage was .813 (13-of-16) by Ken Harper in 1984.

Attendance: 21,420