Duke football backup quarterback Chris Katrenick opts out of 2020 season

Duke football backup quarterback Chris Katrenick opted out of the 2020 season because of personal reasons.

The Duke Blue Devils were dealt some uncomfortable news as backup quarterback Chris Katrenick opted out of the 2020 season citing personal circumstances, the team announced last week.

Katrenick was in a preseason quarterback battle between Chase Brice and Gunnar Holmberg, where Brice was ultimately named as the starting quarterback.

The Algonquin, Illinois native and junior quarterback had not seen much time on the field for the Blue Devils, completing 10-of-28 passes in his Duke career for 143 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

Katrenick also amassed 44 rushing yards on 18 carries and one touchdown.

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In the 2020 season, Chris Katrenick was only able to receive playing time in one blowout loss against the Virginia Cavaliers, completing two of his three passes for 40 yards.

The quarterback position has been a problem for the Blue Devils this season as starting quarterback Chase Brice is completing just 54.9 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and 11 interceptions as Duke is a struggling 1-5 on the season.

Brice, a transfer from Clemson, had two years of eligibility remaining before the 2020 campaign, and with the eligibility rules put into place before the start of the year, Brice could be hanging around Durham for a while.

It doesn’t seem as if Chris Katrenick could return to the Blue Devils as his player profile on the Duke roster has been removed from the team website.

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Duke will now rely on Brice and newly minted backup quarterback Gunnar Holmberg to lead the charge for the remainder of the 2020 season as the Blue Devils come off a bye week and return to Wallace Wade Stadium for their only non-conference matchup of the year against the Charlotte 49ers.

Kickoff is at 7:00pm EST on Saturday, October 31 on Regional Sports Networks.