MIAMI (AP) -Growing up on the same football fields in South Florida, Thaddeus Lewis was the mentor, Jacory Harris the pupil.
Years later, the relationship between the quarterbacks hasn't changed.
``Me and Thad, we talk every now and then on the phone,'' Harris said. ``He'll give me a couple of pointers, things to do, things to look at.''
On Saturday, the student will try to show the teacher what he's learned, when they share a field for quite possibly the last time.
Harris and No. 21 Miami (7-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) close league play and the home schedule against Lewis and Duke (5-5, 3-3), which is in contention for its first bowl bid since 1995. It's a big game for Miami, which still could have its first 10-win season since 2003. And for Lewis, it's particularly significant - his high school, Hialeah-Miami Lakes, is only 8 miles from where the game will be played.
``It's going to be exciting, a chance to play in front of your home crowd in your last college season,'' Lewis said.
Exciting for Harris, too.
His best game as a collegian was last year against Duke, when he came off the Miami bench to throw for four touchdowns and run for another score, helping the Hurricanes easily erase a 24-14 third-quarter deficit and post a 49-31 victory. Lewis being on the other sideline was a clear motivating factor, Harris said.
``I know it was a lot of fun,'' Harris said. ``It's a lot of fun going against somebody that you grew up with and grew up admiring, when you were at the Optimist level, the Little League level ... now being able to play at the same level with him, it's like competition. You want to see if you can do better than him, see how he reacts in different situations and try to be just like him.''
Of course, this game is much more than Harris vs. Lewis.
There's no titles at stake, but it's still critical for both teams.
Harris was talked about in some circles as a Heisman candidate earlier this season, and he's now No. 1 - in interceptions nationally. The sophomore has been picked off 16 times this year, four of those coming in last week's loss to North Carolina, and he plans to play this week with some sort of brace protecting his sore right hand.
He still has the full support of his team, and many of them rushed to his defense when he took responsibility for the Carolina loss.
``I've always had a lot of respect for Jacory Harris,'' left tackle Jason Fox said. ``I have more now. It's definitely not all on him.''
The Duke game last year was the one where Harris, in some eyes anyway, started to separate himself from Robert Marve as Miami's No. 1 quarterback.
With the interceptions and injuries taking a toll, Miami's hope is that facing Duke gives Harris a boost again.
``He looks up to Thaddeus, starting when they were little,'' Miami coach Randy Shannon said. ``It's going to be a deal where Thaddeus is coming back home, a guy that Jacory has looked up to, so it's going to be a game for him to prove that he really is the University of Miami quarterback - but he won't put that sort of pressure on himself, either.''
From the Duke perspective, coach David Cutcliffe sounds less than satisfied with just having the Blue Devils' best record since 1995.
He had 28 names on his internal Sunday injury report, about twice as many as usual. Duke has lost its last 18 games played in November, the last win coming Nov. 13, 2004 against Clemson. And even with a 3-2 road record this season, the Blue Devils have still dropped 66 of their last 77 on the road.
``I don't like the people that just raise the obstacles,'' Cutcliffe said. ``I can tell you 5,000 reasons (why) we won't win. If I tell you 5,000 reasons (why) we won't win, then I have to tell you 5,000 things we are going to do about it. I've talked about the challenges, what they are and what we are going to do about them.''
One of those 5,000 things Duke can do Saturday - get a big game from Lewis in his hometown.
``I don't expect anything but his best,'' Harris said. ``But I also told him, he can't expect to come in and get their bowl-appearance win against us.''
