Davidson Wildcats
PioneerDavidson, NCRichardson Stadium
2026: 3–5 (1–3 Pioneer). Last: beat Morehead State 34–31 at home. Next: at St. Thomas (MN), Saturday, Oct 31, 2 p.m. ET.
- L 35–41Concord
- L 0–38Elon
- W 28–14Dickinson
- W 27–24VMI
- L 32–51Drake
- L 14–63at San Diego
- L 21–38at Presbyterian
- W 34–31Morehead State
- Oct 31at St. Thomas (MN)
- Nov 7Stetson
- Nov 14at Dayton
- Nov 21Marist
Davidson has played football since 1896 and is officially 472–659–45; 863 of its 1,176 games are in our file. They have won two Pioneer Football League titles (the last in 2021) and one Southern Conference title, counting shared titles. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 1 player from Davidson. William L. Younger (1923–1931) won more games here than any other coach: 44. The most-played rival is VMI: 59 meetings, VMI leads 39–17–3. This season, they’re 3–5.
Résumé
- All-time record
- 472–659–45 official; 339–483–41 on file; how we count
- Postseason
- 0–1 matches the official bowl record
- AP No. 1 finishes
- 0
- Weeks at No. 1
- 0 of 0 ranked
- Elo now
- 1101
- Computer rankings
- Massey No. 125 · Composite No. 126 in FCS, Oct 17. From Massey Ratings
- Conference titles
- 3 last in 2021
- Seasons
- 102 since 1902, 863 games
2026 season 3–5
RosterFull 2026 season| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27 | vsConcord | L 35–41 | 71% |
| Sep 5 | vs Elon | L 0–38 | 29% |
| Sep 12 | vsDickinson | W 28–14 | 61% |
| Sep 19 | vs VMI | W 27–24 | 63% |
| Sep 26 | vs Drake | L 32–51 | 39% |
| Oct 3 | at San Diego | L 14–63 | 21% |
| Oct 10 | at Presbyterian | L 21–38 | 18% |
| Oct 17 | vs Morehead State | W 34–31 | 51% |
| Oct 31 | at St. Thomas (MN) | Preview | 16% |
| Nov 7 | vs Stetson | Preview | 58% |
| Nov 14 | at Dayton | Preview | 14% |
| Nov 21 | vs Marist | Preview | 33% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
This season, game by game
Players
The 2026 rosterThe moneyOn the 2026 team
- Casey Bullock1,809 passing yards, 12 TD (leads Davidson in passing yards)
- Jacary Lightsey42 catches, 519 yards, 3 TD (leads Davidson in receiving yards)
- A.J. Adams40 catches, 428 yards, 3 TD (leads Davidson in receiving touchdowns)
- Jarmal Gilmore36 tackles, 5 sacks (leads Davidson in sacks)
- Hudson Altenburg50 tackles (leads Davidson in tackles)
- Andrew Frazier25 catches, 304 yards
Program greats See all
Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Davidson.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
Program strength since 1902
Best seasons everHead coaches
| Coach | Years | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Ed Farrell | 1974–1976 | 0–8 |
| Dave Fagg | 1970–1973 | 8–32–1 |
| Homer Smith | 1965–1969 | 24–24 |
| Bill Dole | 1952–1953 | 2–16 |
| Crowell Little | 1950–1951 | 4–14 |
| Lefty Jamerson | 1948–1949 | 5–13–1 |
| William Story | 1946–1947 | 10–8–1 |
 Gene McEver | 1936–1943 | 21–45–4 |
| Doc Newton | 1932–1935 | 18–13–5 |
| William L. Younger | 1923–1931 | 44–38–7 |
| H.M. Grey | 1920–1922 | 10–15–5 |
| Pete Crayton | 1919 | 4–6–1 |
 William Fetzer | 1915–1918 | 17–11–3 |
| Bob Fetzer | 1914 | 5–1–1 |
| W.T. Cook | 1912–1913 | 5–9 |
| Edwin W. Holladay | 1911 | 5–3 |
| Floyd M. Simmons | 1909–1910 | 9–6–2 |
| John Nathan Levine | 1908 | 6–3–1 |
| Ralph Graham | 1906–1907 | 7–3–3 |
| Bob Williams | 1904–1905 | 1–2–1 |
| John A. Brewin | 1902–1903 | 3–9–1 |
Most-played series
All rivalries- VMI
17–39–3 in 59
- 1974 L 7–43
- 1975 L 0–55
- 1977 L 0–21
- 2003 L 9–31
- 2005 L 0–33
- 2006 L 19–20
- 2014 L 24–52
- 2021 L 24–45
- 2023 L 7–12
- 2026 W 27–24
Won the last one.
- The Citadel
21–29–4 in 54
- 1970 L 9–44
- 1971 L 7–47
- 1972 L 16–25
- 1973 W 19–16
- 1974 L 21–56
- 1975 L 0–44
- 1976 L 6–40
- 1980 L 13–31
- 1981 L 3–23
- 2015 L 0–69
Lost the last six.
- Furman
15–33 in 48
- 1968 W 28–7
- 1969 W 77–14
- 1970 L 24–31
- 1971 L 6–41
- 1972 W 51–35
- 1973 L 7–38
- 1978 L 14–56
- 1979 L 55–63
- 1980 L 7–21
- 1981 L 12–30
Lost the last five.
| Opponent | Games | DAV record |
|---|---|---|
| VMI | 59 | 17–39–3 |
| The Citadel | 54 | 21–29–4 |
| Furman | 48 | 15–33 |
| NC State | 40 | 8–27–5 |
| Wofford | 38 | 25–12–1 |
| North Carolina | 37 | 5–28–4 |
| Presbyterian | 36 | 20–13–2 † |
| Wake Forest | 31 | 16–11–4 |
Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.
Every opponent (99)
Every program Davidson has played, A to Z, with Davidson’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.
- Air Force 0–2
- Alabama 0–1
- App State 0–4–1
- Army 0–3
- Auburn 2–0
- Austin Peay 1–0
- Barton 1–1
- Bingham 0–1
- Brevard 2–0
- Bucknell 2–3
- Butler 8–7
- Camp Greene 0–0–1
- Campbell 3–7
- Carson Newman 1–0
- Catawba 12–4
- Centre 2–1
- Charleston 2–0
- Charlotte 1–0
- Chowan 1–0
- Clemson 5–9–4
- Coastal Carolina 0–2
- Colgate 0–1
- Concord 0–1
- Dayton 2–14
- Dickinson 1–0
- Drake 3–10
- Duke 4–16–1
- East Carolina 2–5
- Elon 16–5
- Erskine 6–0–1
- Florida 1–0
- Furman 15–33
- George Washington 1–3
- Georgetown 2–9
- Georgia 1–2–1
- Georgia Tech 1–12
- Greensboro 2–0
- Guilford 7–0–1
- Hampden Sydney 3–1–1
- Harvard 0–3
- Jacksonville 5–10
- Jacksonville State 0–2
- Johnson C. Smith 1–1
- Kennesaw State 0–1
- Kentucky Wesleyan 2–0
- Lafayette 2–1
- Lehigh 4–2
- Lenoir Rhyne 8–7
- Livingstone 1–0
- Marist 3–12
- Mercer 0–1
- Mississippi College 1–0
- Morehead State 10–12
- Morganton Mutes 1–0
- Mount Pleasant 1–0
- Navy 0–3
- NC State 8–27–5
- Newberry 2–0
- North Carolina 5–28–4
- North Carolina Medical 2–0
- Oak Ridge 3–0
- Point University 1–0
- Presbyterian 20–13–2 †
- Princeton 0–1
- Richmond 9–20–1
- Roanoke 2–0
- Rollins 2–1–1
- Saint Louis 0–1
- San Diego 4–15
- Sewanee 1–1
- Shaw 1–0
- South Carolina 8–5
- St. Andrews 2–0
- St. Thomas (MN) 1–2
- Stetson 10–7
- Tennessee 0–1
- Tennessee Tech 0–1
- The Citadel 21–29–4
- Toledo 0–1
- Trinity (Texas) 1–1
- UConn 2–0
- UNC Pembroke 1–1
- Valparaiso 8–5
- Vanderbilt 0–2
- Virginia 0–8–2
- Virginia Lynchburg 1–0
- Virginia Tech 3–10–1
- VMI 17–39–3
- Wake Forest 16–11–4
- Washington and Lee 6–14–1
- West Virginia 0–1
- West Virginia Wesleyan 1–0
- Western Carolina 0–1
- Westminster (Pennsylvania) 1–0
- William & Mary 4–9–1
- Wingate 0–2
- Wittenberg 0–1
- Wofford 25–12–1
- WVU Tech 2–0
Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.
Conference titles
3, counting shared titles- Southern Conference 1
- 1969 (shared)
As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.
Conferences
- Independent 1896–1915
- South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1916–1921
- Independent 1922–1931
- Big Five 1932–1935
- Southern Conference 1978–1986
- Colonial Conference 1987–1988
- Independent 1989–2000
- Pioneer Conference since 2001
- 2001Joined the Pioneer Conference from independence in football. Source
Davidson’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Led the nation 2
| 1970 | Mike Mikolayunas receptions (87 catches) |
| 1969 | George Hannen punt return average (22.4) |
The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.
In the Hall of Fame
Every inductee- Players
- 1
- Coaches
- 0
| 1955 | Buck Flowers RB |
In the NFL Draft
By college- Drafted, rounds 1–7
- 1 since 1970
- First-round picks
- 0
The school
Davidson College- Enrollment
- 1,869 1,869 undergraduates, fall 2024
- Where
- Davidson, North Carolina
- Public or private
- Private nonprofit
- Founded
- 1837
- Graduates’ median earnings
- $81,400 10 years after starting
Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.
Season by season
National champions| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3–5 | 1–3 | 1101 | ||||
| 2025 | 2–10 | 1–7 | 1081 | ||||
| 2024 | 6–5 | 4–4 | 1282 | ||||
| 2023 | 7–4 | 6–2 | 1279 | ||||
| 2022 | 8–4 | 6–2 | 1336 | ||||
| 2021 | 8–3 | 7–1 | 1370 | ||||
| 2020 | 4–3 | 1324 | |||||
| 2019 | 8–4 | 5–3 | 1312 | ||||
| 2018 | 6–5 | 3–5 | 1165 | ||||
| 2017 | 2–9 | 0–8 | 1039 | ||||
| 2016 | 2–9 | 0–8 | 1036 | ||||
| 2015 | 2–9 | 1–7 | 1001 | ||||
| 2014 | 1–10 | 0–7 | 972 | ||||
| 2013 | 0–11 | 0–8 | 938 | ||||
| 2012 | 2–9 | 2–6 | 1068 | ||||
| 2011 | 4–7 | 2–6 | 1138 | ||||
| 2010 | 2–8 | 2–5 | 1100 | ||||
| 2009 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 1205 | ||||
| 2008 | 4–7 | 3–5 | 1238 | ||||
| 2007 | 6–4 | 4–3 | 1302 | ||||
| 2006 | 6–4 | 5–2 | 1276 | ||||
| 2005 | 4–6 | 2–4 | 1185 | ||||
| 2004 | 0–2 | 1165 | |||||
| 2003 | 0–3 | 1174 | |||||
| 1981 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1248 |
Every season back to 1902 (77 more)
| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1256 | ||||
| 1979 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1255 | ||||
| 1978 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1260 | ||||
| 1977 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1335 | ||||
| 1976 | 0–2 | 0–1 | Ed Farrell | 1278 | |||
| 1975 | 0–3 | 0–3 | Ed Farrell | 1230 | |||
| 1974 | 0–3 | 0–3 | Ed Farrell | 1192 | |||
| 1973 | 2–8 | 1–6 | Dave Fagg | 1170 | -22.2 | ||
| 1972 | 3–7–1 | 2–3–1 | Dave Fagg | 1207 | -21.8 | ||
| 1971 | 1–9 | 0–6 | Dave Fagg | 1170 | -30.2 | ||
| 1970 | 2–8 | 2–4 | Dave Fagg | 1232 | -22.5 | ||
| 1969 | 7–4 | 5–1 | Homer Smith | 1402 | |||
| 1968 | 3–6 | 1–3 | Homer Smith | 1268 | |||
| 1967 | 4–5 | 1–5 | Homer Smith | 1238 | |||
| 1966 | 4–5 | 2–3 | Homer Smith | 1190 | |||
| 1965 | 6–4 | 2–3 | Homer Smith | 1193 | |||
| 1964 | 3–6 | 1–3 | 1099 | ||||
| 1963 | 1–5–2 | 0–4–1 | 1103 | ||||
| 1962 | 3–5–1 | 0–4–1 | 1168 | ||||
| 1961 | 4–4 | 1–4 | 1167 | ||||
| 1960 | 3–5 | 1–3 | 1126 | ||||
| 1959 | 1–8 | 0–5 | 1100 | ||||
| 1958 | 5–4 | 2–3 | 1266 | ||||
| 1957 | 5–3 | 1–3 | 1290 | ||||
| 1956 | 5–3–1 | 1–2–1 | 1284 | ||||
| 1955 | 5–4 | 2–2 | 1282 | ||||
| 1954 | 6–3 | 2–1 | 1330 | ||||
| 1953 | 0–9 | 0–5 | Bill Dole | 1175 | |||
| 1952 | 2–7 | 1–6 | Bill Dole | 1246 | |||
| 1951 | 1–8 | 1–5 | Crowell Little | 1236 | |||
| 1950 | 3–6 | 1–5 | Crowell Little | 1313 | |||
| 1949 | 2–8 | 1–5 | Lefty Jamerson | 1260 | |||
| 1948 | 3–5–1 | 2–5 | Lefty Jamerson | 1363 | |||
| 1947 | 6–3–1 | 3–3–1 | William Story | 1397 | |||
| 1946 | 4–5 | 1–5 | William Story | 1262 | |||
| 1943 | 0–3 | 0–3 | Gene McEver | 1296 | |||
| 1942 | 2–6–1 | 2–4–1 | Gene McEver | 1327 | |||
| 1941 | 1–6–3 | 1–5–2 | Gene McEver | 1317 | |||
| 1940 | 5–5 | 1–5 | Gene McEver | 1370 | |||
| 1939 | 2–7 | 1–7 | Gene McEver | 1308 | |||
| 1938 | 4–6 | 2–6 | Gene McEver | 1326 | |||
| 1937 | 2–8 | 1–6 | Gene McEver | 1360 | |||
| 1936 | 5–4 | 4–3 | Gene McEver | 1509 | |||
| 1935 | 4–3–2 | Doc Newton | 1466 | ||||
| 1934 | 4–4–1 | Doc Newton | 1448 | ||||
| 1933 | 6–2–1 | Doc Newton | 1495 | ||||
| 1932 | 4–4–1 | Doc Newton | 1444 | ||||
| 1931 | 4–4–2 | William L. Younger | 1422 | ||||
| 1930 | 6–4 | William L. Younger | 1426 | ||||
| 1929 | 5–5 | William L. Younger | 1377 | ||||
| 1928 | 2–8 | William L. Younger | 1277 | ||||
| 1927 | 4–4–1 | William L. Younger | 1403 | ||||
| 1926 | 7–2–1 | William L. Younger | 1515 | ||||
| 1925 | 6–2–2 | William L. Younger | 1501 | ||||
| 1924 | 7–2–1 | William L. Younger | 1463 | ||||
| 1923 | 3–7 | William L. Younger | 1353 | ||||
| 1922 | 2–6–2 | H.M. Grey | 1380 | ||||
| 1921 | 3–4–3 | 0–1–2 | H.M. Grey | 1439 | |||
| 1920 | 5–5 | 1–1 | H.M. Grey | 1479 | |||
| 1919 | 4–6–1 | 0–2 | Pete Crayton | 1479 | |||
| 1918few games on file | 2–1–1 | William Fetzer | 1583 | ||||
| 1917 | 6–4 | 0–2 | William Fetzer | 1597 | |||
| 1916 | 5–3–1 | 1–1 | William Fetzer | 1548 | |||
| 1915 | 4–3–1 | William Fetzer | 1485 | ||||
| 1914 | 5–1–1 | Bob Fetzer | 1467 | ||||
| 1913 | 2–5 | W.T. Cook | 1368 | ||||
| 1912 | 3–4 | W.T. Cook | 1398 | ||||
| 1911 | 5–3 | Edwin W. Holladay | 1515 | ||||
| 1910 | 6–2 | Floyd M. Simmons | 1548 | ||||
| 1909 | 3–4–2 | Floyd M. Simmons | 1495 | ||||
| 1908 | 6–3–1 | John Nathan Levine | 1564 | ||||
| 1907 | 4–1–1 | Ralph Graham | 1544 | ||||
| 1906 | 3–2–2 | Ralph Graham | 1494 | ||||
| 1905few games on file | 1–1 | Bob Williams | 1452 | ||||
| 1904few games on file | 0–1–1 | Bob Williams | 1396 | ||||
| 1903few games on file | 0–4 | John A. Brewin | 1366 | ||||
| 1902 | 3–5–1 | John A. Brewin | 1399 |
Officially 472–659–45 since 1896 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 339–483–41 (863 of its 1,176 games are on file). Our file starts in 1902; the program began in 1896. Some games are missing from our source.
No season on file for 1944–45, 1982–2002: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.
Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.