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1939 Duke

8–⁠1 (5–⁠0 Southern Conference), coached by Wallace Wade, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1939, game by game: won at Davidson 26–6; won vs. Colgate 37–0; lost at Pittsburgh 13–14; won vs. Syracuse 33–6; won vs. Wake Forest 6–0; won at Georgia Tech 7–6; won at VMI 20–7; won vs. No. 7 North Carolina 13–3; won at NC State 28–0+37−1Won 26–6 at Davidson+20DavidsonWon 37–0 vs. Colgate+37ColgateLost 13–14 at Pittsburgh-1PittsburghWon 33–6 vs. Syracuse+27SyracuseWon 6–0 vs. Wake Forest+6Wake ForestWon 7–6 at Georgia Tech+1Georgia TechWon 20–7 at VMI+13VMIWon 13–3 vs. No. 7 North Carolina+10No. 7 North CarolinaWon 28–0 at NC State+28NC State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30atDavidsonW 26–⁠679%
Oct 7vsColgateW 37–⁠080%
Oct 14atPittsburghL 13–⁠1441%
Oct 21vsSyracuseW 33–⁠681%
Oct 28vsWake ForestW 6–⁠078%
Nov 4atGeorgia TechW 7–⁠666%
Nov 11atVMIW 20–⁠782%
Nov 18vs7North CarolinaW 13–⁠360%
Nov 25atNC StateW 28–⁠084%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat NC State 28–⁠0; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Southern Conference champions.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 13
  2. Wk 2: 12
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 6
  9. Final: 8

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 1939.

Southern Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference

Record
8–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0 shared first in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 6
Points
183–⁠42
Coach
Wallace Wade
Elo
1735 +80 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
18.9 No. 3 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Allen Johnson
Most valuable player
George McAfee
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1940

The 1940 draft
Rd 1George McAfee QBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 4Bill Bailey EBrooklyn Dodgers

All-Southern Conference

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • George McAfeeBAP-1; UP-1
  • Frank RibarOGAP-1; UP-1
  • Allen JohnsonOGAP-1; UP-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke5–⁠08–⁠18
Clemson4–⁠09–⁠112
North Carolina5–⁠18–⁠1–⁠1
William & Mary2–⁠0–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
Richmond3–⁠1–⁠17–⁠1–⁠2
VMI3–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
Wake Forest3–⁠37–⁠3
Furman3–⁠35–⁠4
NC State2–⁠42–⁠8
Washington and Lee1–⁠23–⁠4–⁠1
Virginia Tech1–⁠4–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
South Carolina1–⁠33–⁠6–⁠1
Davidson1–⁠72–⁠7
The Citadel0–⁠43–⁠8
Maryland0–⁠12–⁠7

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