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1940 Duke

7–⁠2 (4–⁠1 Southern Conference), coached by Wallace Wade, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1940, game by game: won vs. VMI 23–0; lost at Tennessee 0–13; won at Colgate 13–0; won at Wake Forest 23–0; won vs. Georgia Tech 41–7; won vs. Davidson 46–13; lost at North Carolina 3–6; won vs. NC State 42–6; won vs. Pittsburgh 12–7+36−13Won 23–0 vs. VMI+23VMILost 0–13 at Tennessee-13TennesseeWon 13–0 at Colgate+13ColgateWon 23–0 at Wake Forest+23Wake ForestWon 41–7 vs. Georgia Tech+34Georgia TechWon 46–13 vs. Davidson+33DavidsonLost 3–6 at North Carolina-3North CarolinaWon 42–6 vs. NC State+36NC StateWon 12–7 vs. Pittsburgh+5Pittsburgh
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 28vsVMIW 23–⁠081%
Oct 5atTennesseeL 0–⁠1343%
Oct 19atColgateW 13–⁠063%
Oct 26atWake ForestW 23–⁠059%
Nov 2vsGeorgia TechW 41–⁠774%
Nov 9vsDavidsonW 46–⁠1393%
Nov 16atNorth CarolinaL 3–⁠660%
Nov 23vsNC StateW 42–⁠690%
Nov 30vsPittsburghW 12–⁠774%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Pittsburgh 12–⁠7; No. 18 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southern Conference.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 18
  2. Wk 4: 12
  3. Wk 5: 12
  4. Wk 7: 20
  5. Final: 18

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 1940.

Record
7–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠1 2nd in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 12
Points
203–⁠52
Coach
Wallace Wade
Elo
1708 +52 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
16.2 No. 13 of 121 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Alex Winterson
Most valuable player
Jasper Davis
Offense
Single-wing

All-Southern Conference

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Steve LachBAP-1
  • Tony RuffaOTAP-1
  • Alex WintersonOGAP-1
  • Bob BarnettCAP-1

Second team

  • Jasper DavisBAP-2
  • Leonard DarnellEAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1940 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1940 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson4–⁠06–⁠2–⁠1
Duke4–⁠17–⁠218
Wake Forest4–⁠27–⁠3
William & Mary2–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
Richmond3–⁠26–⁠3
North Carolina3–⁠26–⁠4
VMI3–⁠2–⁠17–⁠2–⁠1
Furman4–⁠35–⁠4
Washington and Lee1–⁠1–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1
Virginia Tech2–⁠35–⁠5
NC State3–⁠53–⁠6
South Carolina1–⁠33–⁠6
Maryland0–⁠1–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Davidson1–⁠55–⁠5
The Citadel0–⁠44–⁠5

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