Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis might have more friends at the University of Miami than any player outside the program. His ties run deep and go beyond high school rivalries and big games.

UM redshirt freshman defensive end Adewale Ojomo went to Bible school with Lewis in Liberty City, has pictures of them from their childhood and still calls him once a week.

UM cornerback Chavez Grant, who occasionally talks to Lewis' mother, was his teammate at the Northwest Boys Club and as a freshman at Miami Booker T. Washington before Lewis transferred to Hialeah-Miami Lakes High.

And UM freshman quarterback Jacory Harris, who calls Lewis an older brother, credits Lewis for helping him switch from receiver to quarterback when he was a high school sophomore.

''He's a great guy,'' said Harris, who credited Lewis for teaching him the basics -- from the three-step drop to reading defenses -- during their weekend quarterback lessons in Opa Locka. ``I hated warming up with him. That was the worst part of the session. Even though I was younger, he would just drill the ball at you. But that's just how he throws the ball. He throws the ball hard.''

Lewis will be coming hard after the Hurricanes (3-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) and his friends when they visit the Blue Devils (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The friendships?

''Those will be put on pause for about three hours,'' Grant said. ``I know he wants to beat us real bad. Even when he was at HML and we were at Booker T., he couldn't beat us. I'm undefeated against him [5-0 in between high school and college] and I want to keep that going.''

UM NOT INTERESTED

In high school, Lewis was considered one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks. But the Hurricanes didn't recruit him as a quarterback.

Then, in his outings against UM as a freshman and sophomore, Lewis made many wonder why the Hurricanes hadn't made more of an effort to recruit him with Kyle Wright and Kirby Freeman struggling.

Two years ago at Duke, Lewis passed for 284 yards and a touchdown and had the Blue Devils on the verge of ending a 14-game losing streak. But UM backup safety Willie Cooper stepped in front of a Duke receiver at the goal line as time expired to grab UM's fourth interception of the game and preserve a 20-15 victory.

Last year, Lewis again had a one-victory Duke team within striking distance of an upset. He completed 18 of 26 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns and had Duke at UM's 30-yard line three minutes left and the Blue Devils trailing 17-14. But Eric Moncur preserved a 24-14 victory when he sacked Lewis on fourth down, UM's ninth sack of the game.

''It would mean a lot to [beat them] considering we've come close two years in a row,'' Lewis said Sunday. ``It would be special just being a kid from Miami.''

NEW COACH HELPING

Duke went 1-22 with Lewis as its quarterback the past two seasons. But this year, Duke is winning under first-year coach David Cutcliffe. The Blue Devils ended a 25-game ACC losing streak Sept. 27 with a 31-3 victory over Virginia.

Lewis, who passed for 2,430 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a sophomore, is getting better, too. He broke the school record with 206 consecutive passes without throwing an interception. He is tied for the ACC lead in touchdown passes (seven) and is second in yards (194.2), completions (99) and total offense (211.2).

And aside from a 27-0 loss Oct. 4 at Georgia Tech, Lewis has been at his best in the second half, in which he has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 551 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

Part of his success could be attributed to Cutcliffe, who coached Peyton Manning and Eli Manning when he was coaching at Tennessee and Mississippi. Cutcliffe believes Lewis has ''the intangibles, the arm strength and the courage'' to be an NFL star..

''He's smart, talented, always willing to learn,'' Cutcliffe said. ``This is the third system he's had to learn in three years, and I can only imagine what's running through his mind. But he definitely knows how to use his talents.

``I just want to see consistency and for him to grow. There has to be a point in time where he has to make those tough plays.''

Lewis would love for that to come Saturday. But he knows his friends aren't going to make it easy.

''You know they're going to be fast, athletic, they're going to fly to the ball and they're going to be aggressive,'' Lewis said. ``They're going to get up in the receiver's face and make great decisions, just like the great defenses Miami had in the past.''

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