Another youth movement set to begin at Duke

DURHAM, N.C. - Jomar Wright might be just a junior, but on Duke&#39;s perpetually young offense, he&#39;s an elder statesman.<br> <br> During the past two seasons the Blue Devils have been one of the nation&#39;s youngest teams, and with 11 freshmen on this year&#39;s depth chart that trend figures to last at least another season.<br> <br> Duke&#39;s latest youth movement is enough to make Wright feel, well, old.<br> <br> ``They&#39;ve got to learn how the ACC is played, and take their style and use it to help the offense,&#39;&#39; Wright said Monday. ``They know that we&#39;ve been through the trials and tribulations of an ACC season, and we can help them out. They look up to us like the leaders of the team.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Playing so many new faces has become old hat in Durham.<br> <br> Duke has played 28 first-year freshmen since 2004, the most in the Atlantic Coast Conference during that span. That abundance of inexperience helps explain why the Blue Devils went 3-19 over the past two years and haven&#39;t beaten a Division I-A opponent since November 2004.<br> <br> ``I hope this is the last year that we&#39;re talking about those kinds of numbers of true freshmen playing, and I think it will be,&#39;&#39; coach Ted Roof said. ``But that&#39;s where we are.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Blue Devils&#39; offense has eight freshmen listed as backups. Three of them are behind Nick Stefanow at tight end, and three more are top reserves for the offensive line where Roof has said it&#39;s toughest for a first-year player to contribute immediately.<br> <br> Left tackle Jarrod Holt, right guard Jeffrey Cowart and right tackle Mitchell Lederman were in high school a year ago, and now they&#39;re one play away from the starting job.<br> <br> ``They don&#39;t have a choice in the matter. They&#39;ve got to get ready to play and adjust to the speed of the game,&#39;&#39; Roof said. ``Anytime you run out to play in your first college football game, it&#39;s a learning experience, and there are some growing pains involved with that. But the only way to become experienced is to play, so we&#39;re going to play them.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Wright said the rookies can make up for their lack of experience with talent.<br> <br> ``The coaches are going to put the best players on the field and try to put them in the best situation possible,&#39;&#39; Wright said. ``So it doesn&#39;t really get on to us. If you&#39;re prepared, the coaches will make sure you&#39;re on the field.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Roof said the young Blue Devils worked out some of the kinks during a scripted 100-play workout to test the way his team might respond to the unusual scenarios that could pop up during a game.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m glad that happened last Saturday so we could address it, correct it and move on,&#39;&#39; Roof said.<br> <br> (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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