Duke Blue Devils: Kick Three off Football Team

The Duke Blue Devils football team got a little thinner yesterday. Coach David Cutcliffe announced that three players had been kicked off Duke’s team according to reports from the Associated Press. No comment was offered about the three players except that they did not meet program standards.

Coach Cutcliffe also noted that this was not a reaction to anything that had happened in the last few weeks. That phrasing is interesting. The last few weeks have witnessed the controversial loss to Miami, the blowout loss to North Carolina, and the decisive loss to Pitt. The statement seems to be aimed at saying that it was not performance related.

As a private school, that is likely where it will end. Duke made no additional comment when Rasheed Sulaimon was kicked off the basketball team last year either.

The three players are receiver Johnell Barnes, fellow receiver Terrence Alls, and linebacker Chris Holmes. Of the three of them, Barnes is the most significant. He was a starter and had four hundred eleven yards receiving and two scores. He received plenty of looks from Thomas Sirk over the course of the year. Alls was his backup.

More from Old North Banter

Duke finishes out its season on the road against Virginia and Wake Forest in the next two weekends. The Blue Devils are bowl eligible. The loss of Barnes and the other two is not likely to change Duke’s philosophy on offense or defense. The Blue Devils will continue to use offensive balance to move the football. They will still be favored in these last two games.

Almost as an afterthought, Coach Cutcliffe mentioned that he had resigned his position on the NCAA Rules Committee. This would seem to be a natural circumstance of the Miami debacle. On this point that performance seems to have derailed Duke’s season given the recent three game losing streak.

Home/Duke Blue Devils