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College Football

Tar Heels, Blue Devils meet in key game Saturday

By AARON BEARD (AP Sports Writer)

Nov 6, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Thad Lewis takes every snap recognizing that the defense in front of him knows exactly what's coming. Yet Duke's senior quarterback and his fleet of receivers keep racking up yards through the air.

It's a big reason why the Blue Devils are flirting with bowl eligibility. And if North Carolina wants to inch closer to a possible bowl itself, the Tar Heels' touted defense will have to stop Lewis in Saturday's rivalry game.

Lewis rolled through October, racking up four straight 300-yard games and directing the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) to three straight victories - their longest streak since the 1994 season that ended with their last bowl game. He's made seemingly every right read, showed strong pocket presence against the rush and has spread the ball around to receivers Donovan Varner, Austin Kelly and Conner Vernon.

"You get better at what you do every day," Lewis said. "One thing we know we're going to do is throw the football, so we try to get better and better at that. It's not seeing where the receivers are going, it's knowing where they should be and seeing the defenders and throwing the ball to certain spots. We practice the routes constantly-constantly-constantly, so in the back of your mind during a game you know where they should be."

The numbers are impressive. Playing in coach David Cutcliffe's passing attack for a second season, he's averaging 383 yards passing in the past four games with 10 touchdown passes against just two interceptions - a streak that has his confidence, he admits, "through the roof."

Cutcliffe, who groomed both Peyton and Eli Manning in college, has noticed Lewis' leap.

"It takes confidence as a quarterback to throw the ball where there's no one there, and that's what you're doing a lot," Cutcliffe said. "That's why I watch an inordinate amount of time from the end zone when I'm studying quarterbacks. I'm watching the stripe on their helmet, I know where their eyes are from behind. That's how I can tell you that Thad Lewis has improved. He knows what he's doing in the pocket better."

But Lewis' challenge Saturday could be tougher than he's faced all season. The Tar Heels (5-3, 1-3) lead the league in both scoring and total defense - they rank seventh nationally in the latter - and boast a defensive front that capable of pressuring Lewis more than past opponents.

"I just want to keep from retreating against them," Cutcliffe said. "They make plays, they're big, they're fast and very dominant."

The Tar Heels are coming off their own momentum-builder, a road upset of Virginia Tech in a nationally televised Thursday night game last week. Their defense was its typically stingy self, but the much-maligned offense came through with the kind of steady performance that the Tar Heels have lacked most of the season.

Considering how well the Blue Devils' offense is playing, North Carolina's offense might have to do a little more than usual to help out a defense that will have its hands full with Lewis.

"You can just see evidence every single snap of his growth and development," North Carolina coach Butch Davis said. "The decision-making that he's been doing, the routes - they know how to attack defenses."

A big game from Lewis could help the Blue Devils end the Tar Heels' recent dominance in the series. They've won 18 of 19 meetings, with Duke's only win coming to end the 2003 regular season.

"I think we have the linemen to get there, but I don't think we need to give him the time," North Carolina junior safety Deunta Williams said. "I think we need to hit him up a little bit. ... We've got to just see how good he is."