DURHAM, N.C. -- Shortly after quarterback Daniel Jones arrived on Dukes campus last year, his teammates nicknamed him the Future.For the redshirt freshman, the future is now.A season-ending injury setback to starter Thomas Sirk makes Jones the first Duke freshman QB to start an opener in 65 years when he leads the Blue Devils against North Carolina Central on Saturday night.Jones wants to make the most of the opportunity he received because of mentor was hurt.I was just heartbroken for him, being such a hard-working guy that I have so much respect for, Jones said Tuesday of Sirk. That was tough to see him go down. Hes been a great resource for me since Ive been here. ... Im excited to get out there and play.The Blue Devils are putting their offense in the hands of the soft-spoken Jones, a late addition to their 2015 recruiting class from Charlotte who figured to be headed to Princeton or another Ivy League schools before Duke eventually showed interest.At 6-foot-5, Jones is an inch taller than Sirk and while he has the frame of a pocket passer, coach David Cutcliffe said he is going to be a threat to run the football.Its a job that Daniels won right now, Cutcliffe said.Jones took most of the first-team snaps during preseason practice, and threw two touchdown passes during a late scrimmage, while Sirk -- who led the team in rushing and passing last year and was the co-MVP of the Pinstripe Bowl victory over Indiana -- worked on rehabbing the Achilles tendon he tore in February.Reps are huge things when youre playing quarterback, seeing the defense, and you need to play the game to get better at it, Jones said. That was huge for me.The question about whether Sirk would make it back for the opener was answered decisively -- but not the way Duke would prefer -- last week when he partially tore that same tendon during a practice.Now comes the latest test of Dukes next-man-up philosophy, with Jones taking over and trying to live up to the nickname he picked up last year while running the scout team. He brushed off questions about that name Tuesday with an embarrassed laugh.Hes a pretty good quarterback -- weve known that since he got here, safety DeVon Edwards said. A lot of guys called him the Future ... from the very beginning.Wholesale Jordans Australia Free Shipping . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Wholesale Air Jordan Australia . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. http://www.clearanceairjordanaustralia.com/ . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Cheap Jordans Australia Outlet . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Clearance Jordans Australia Online . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is.The Dallas Stars won the Central Division last season. Many people felt the Nashville Predators had what it takes to unseat them this season.With the season not even 25 percent finished, its become clear both teams have a lot of work ahead of them if theyre to scale the heights to which they aspire. Only one can get closer when they meet Wednesday night in Nashville.Both enter off Monday night home wins, Dallas stopping Minnesota 3-2 in overtime and Nashville dumping Tampa Bay 3-1. But the Stars are just 8-7-5 and the Predators are only 8-7-3, leaving them seven and nine points, respectively, behind first-place Chicago.However, both teams feel a little better about themselves after playing solid games. Dallas snapped a nine-game overtime losing streak on Jamie Benns goal 1:23 into the extra period, while Nashville led 3-0 just over halfway through the second period and controlled the action against one of the leagues elite teams.It felt good. Im not going to lie, Benn said. It was nice to finally win one in overtime. I thought we played pretty good. I think we can be happy with that one.The Predators certainly were happy with their performance, which included good games from their highly touted defense corps. P.K. Subban pumped two goals past Ben Bishop in a 2:40 span of the second period, Ryan Ellis notched three assists and Roman Josi was all over the ice, picking up an assist, moving the puck with skill and drawing a penalty that led to Subbans first marker.I think thats the makeup of our defense and the skill set that all our defensemen have, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette saidd.dddddddddddd I think good defense is a six-man unit -- the goaltender and all five players working inside of a system and trying to do their job.Thats certainly been the case at home for the Predators. They are 6-1-1 in Bridgestone Arena, having outscored their opposition 25-11. In winning their last four at home, they have permitted just three goals, and Pekka Rinne came within 50 seconds of back-to-back shutouts at home Monday night.The Stars are only 3-4-3 on the road, but one of their wins came Oct. 18 in Nashville, a 2-1 decision that serves as the Predators only regulation home loss. Jason Spezza notched the tiebreaking goal at 9:15 of the third period as Dallas outshot Nashville 37-28.Kari Lehtonen was in net that night for the Stars, but Antti Niemi was in goal on Monday night, stopping 27 of 29 shots behind a revamped defense. John Klingberg, generally considered the teams top defenseman, was scratched after missing a team meeting Monday before morning skate, and Stephen Johns was also a healthy scratch.Coach Lindy Ruff said the changes also were based on improving puck movement.Our play coming through the neutral zone was probably as good as its been all year, he said. It was simple and effective.It will have to stay that way if Dallas is to earn a second win in Nashville against an equally needy team.We are in a position where we need all the points we can get, all the wins, Rinne said. We need to keep building our confidence and keep rolling. ' ' '