Duke safety DeVon Edwards to undergo season-ending knee surgery

Duke’s 38-35 upset over Notre Dame last weekend was not without cost, as Head Coach David Cutcliffe announced Sunday evening that safety and kick returner DeVon Edwards had torn his ACL and MCL and would be undergoing a season-ending surgery. The redshirt senior captain went down after returning Notre Dame’s first kickoff for 21 yards on Saturday. After being helped off the field, he returned on crutches, left knee completely immobilized.

Even without Edwards, who has multiple All-ACC and All-American mentions to his name, Duke looked strong, showing depth at the specialist position. In the first kickoff return without Edwards, junior running back Shaun Wilson returned the ball for a 96-yard touchdown. With most teams avoiding Edwards on the kickoff so far this season, Wilson has had ample opportunities to return the ball.

This is the second major season-ending loss Duke has had to endure after senior quarterback Thomas Sirk, the team’s leading passer and rusher from the previous season, had injured his Achilles tendon in August, the same Achilles tendon he had torn back in February.

Edwards ends his collegiate career with six kickoffs returned for touchdowns, including a school-record three last season for 95 yards against Tulane, 100 yards against Georgia Tech, and 94 yards against Virginia. His six are just one shy of the ACC record seven held by Clemson’s CJ Spiller and the NCAA record shared by Spiller and Houston’s Tyron Carrier. He also had 3.0 sacks to his name this season already.

Virginia travels to Durham to play Duke in the Blue Devils’ homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and we’ll continue our coverage here on Streaking the Lawn.