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1938 Duke

9–⁠1 (5–⁠0 Southern Conference), coached by Wallace Wade, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1938, game by game: won vs. Virginia Tech 18–0; won vs. Davidson 27–0; won vs. Colgate 7–0; won vs. Georgia Tech 6–0; won at Wake Forest 7–0; won at North Carolina 14–0; won at Syracuse 21–0; won vs. NC State 7–0; won vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh 7–0; lost vs. No. 8 USC 3–7+27−4Won 18–0 vs. Virginia Tech+18Virginia TechWon 27–0 vs. Davidson+27DavidsonWon 7–0 vs. Colgate+7ColgateWon 6–0 vs. Georgia Tech+6Georgia TechWon 7–0 at Wake Forest+7Wake ForestWon 14–0 at North Carolina+14North CarolinaWon 21–0 at Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 7–0 vs. NC State+7NC StateWon 7–0 vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh+7No. 4 PittsburghLost 3–7 vs. No. 8 USC-4No. 8 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 24vsVirginia TechW 18–⁠071%
Oct 1vsDavidsonW 27–⁠079%
Oct 8vsColgateW 7–⁠072%
Oct 15vsGeorgia TechW 6–⁠075%
Oct 22atWake ForestW 7–⁠074%
Oct 29atNorth CarolinaW 14–⁠045%
Nov 12atSyracuseW 21–⁠072%
Nov 19vsNC StateW 7–⁠089%
Nov 26vs4PittsburghW 7–⁠056%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs8USCRose BowlL 3–⁠761%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to USC 7–⁠3 in the Rose Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Southern Conference champions.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 9
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 3
  8. Final: 3

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1938.

Southern Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference

Record
9–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0 first in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
117–⁠7
Coach
Wallace Wade
Elo
1733 +107 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
14.4 No. 12 of 122 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Dan Hill and Eric Tipton
Most valuable player
Eric Tipton
Offense
Single-wing

All-Southern Conference

4 first team

First team

  • Eric TiptonBAP-1; UP-1
  • Bob O’MaraBAP-1; UP-1
  • Bolo PerdueEAP-1
  • Fred YorkeOGAP-1; UP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1938 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1938 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke5–⁠09–⁠13
Clemson3–⁠0–⁠17–⁠1–⁠1
North Carolina4–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
VMI4–⁠0–⁠36–⁠1–⁠4
Richmond3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
NC State3–⁠3–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
South Carolina2–⁠26–⁠4–⁠1
Washington and Lee2–⁠24–⁠4–⁠1
Wake Forest3–⁠4–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Virginia Tech2–⁠3–⁠23–⁠5–⁠2
The Citadel2–⁠36–⁠5
Maryland1–⁠22–⁠7
Davidson2–⁠64–⁠6
Furman0–⁠4–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1
William & Mary0–⁠43–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.