Chase Brice named as starting quarterback of Duke football program
Head coach David Cutcliffe named Chase Brice as the starting quarterback for the Duke football program.
The expectation is now a reality as Chase Brice will be the starting quarterback for the Duke Blue Devils in Week 1 of the 2020 college football season.
Duke head coach David Cutcliffe made the official announcement on Sunday afternoon as Brice beat out Chris Katrenick and Gunnar Holmberg for the starting job.
The 6-foot-2 signal-caller was previously the backup quarterback at Clemson where he saw Trevor Lawrence take the reins of Dabo Swinney‘s program to two straight National Championship Game appearances.
ALSO READ: Kickoff times set for first two weeks of Duke schedule
Lawrence congratulated Brice on his starting nod shortly after the Blue Devils’ Twitter account shared the news.
https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1302732242406567936?s=20
My brother! https://t.co/ynw5O1FI4b
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) September 7, 2020
In his two seasons with the Tigers, Chase Brice completed 82-of-134 passes for a total of 1,023 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions in addition to 27 rushes for 157 yards and a touchdown.
However, the newly minted starting quarterback for the Blue Devils will not have his anticipated starting center on the field with him in Jack Wohlabaugh, who suffered an ACL injury in practice last week.
Wohlabaugh is a two-year starter at Duke who transferred to Durham from Ohio State.
Will Taylor is expected to replace Wohlabaugh as the starting center.
ALSO READ: Injury bug already hits Blue Devils before season begins
Brice enrolled at Duke in mid-July following his graduation from Clemson in three years, but the quarterback originally committed to the Blue Devils on February 2.
If he wishes, Chase Brice could have two seasons of eligibility in Durham, something that he hinted at using up in a recent interview on Packer and Durham. But with a stellar first season at Duke, he also has the option of declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Duke will open up the season with 2020 honorary ACC member Notre Dame on September 12, and Brice does have some experience against the Fighting Irish in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal, but he did not complete either of his two passes but did have two rushes for 31 yards.
The Blue Devils and Irish will kickoff at 2:30pm EST on NBC from Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.