Duke football: Injury bug already hits Blue Devils before season begins

The injury bug is already in Durham as the Blue Devils’ starting center Jack Wohlabaugh tore his ACL days before the season is scheduled to begin.

College football has already begun around the country, and while many things will be different about the 2020 season, it seems one thing will remain the same, and that’s the injury bug hitting the Duke Blue Devils.

Days before Duke is scheduled to open the season against Notre Dame, the Blue Devils will not have starting center Jack Wohlabaugh, thanks to a torn ACL suffered in practice.

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The team announced the injury on Wednesday, but this will not be the first time David Cutcliffe had to adjust his offense with Wohlabaugh out as he missed the last three games of the season last year because of surgery to repair an ankle injury.

Jack Wohlabaugh transferred to Duke from Ohio State following the 2017 season. The center spent his first two seasons in Columbus, Ohio, and he then played in 13 games, starting nine, for the Blue Devils in 2018.

Following an All-ACC Honorable Selection in 2019, the Akron, Ohio native was named to the Outland Trophy Watch List, an award that is given to the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America.

He was also named to the Athlon Sports Preseason All-ACC Fourth Team and to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.

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As a redshirt senior, Jack Wohlabaugh has gathered interest from the NFL as he has the bloodlines for it as his father, Dave Wohlabaugh, played for the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams in the span of nine seasons.

Redshirt junior offensive lineman Will Taylor is expected to replace Wohlabaugh as Duke’s starting center, as the 6-foot-3, 305-pound center filled in for Wohlabaugh as the starting center during his absence last season.

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David Cutcliffe and the Duke Blue Devils kick off the season on Saturday, September 12 in South Bend, Indiana against Notre Dame at 2:30pm EST on NBC.

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