William Holmquist came to Duke to study at the school’s renowned Fuqua School of Business and, hopefully, help the football team.
A hard-working reserve all season, Holmquist found himself pressed into full-time kicking and punting duties for the Quick Lane Bowl due to unfortunate circumstances.
Duke’s No. 1 kicker and punter, Austin Parker, was dismissed from the team earlier this month. That left Holmquist, who was born almost completely deaf, to handle both jobs in the bowl game.
He didn’t have a perfect day on Tuesday at Ford Field, but his contributions were good enough to help Duke beat Northern Illinois, 36-14, to close the season with a 7-6 record.