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1941 Duke

9–⁠1 (5–⁠0 Southern Conference), coached by Wallace Wade, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Duke, 1941
Photo: Duke University, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Duke in 1941, game by game: won vs. Wake Forest 43–14; won vs. Tennessee 19–0; won at Maryland 50–0; won vs. Colgate 27–14; won at Pittsburgh 27–7; won at Georgia Tech 14–0; won at Davidson 56–0; won vs. North Carolina 20–0; won at NC State 55–6; lost vs. No. 17 Oregon State 16–20+56−4Won 43–14 vs. Wake Forest+29Wake ForestWon 19–0 vs. Tennessee+19TennesseeWon 50–0 at Maryland+50MarylandWon 27–14 vs. Colgate+13ColgateWon 27–7 at Pittsburgh+20PittsburghWon 14–0 at Georgia Tech+14Georgia TechWon 56–0 at Davidson+56DavidsonWon 20–0 vs. North Carolina+20North CarolinaWon 55–6 at NC State+49NC StateLost 16–20 vs. No. 17 Oregon State-4No. 17 Oregon State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 27vsWake ForestW 43–⁠1470%
Oct 4vsTennesseeW 19–⁠057%
Oct 11atMarylandW 50–⁠080%
Oct 18vsColgateW 27–⁠1480%
Oct 25atPittsburghW 27–⁠773%
Nov 1atGeorgia TechW 14–⁠074%
Nov 8atDavidsonW 56–⁠090%
Nov 15vsNorth CarolinaW 20–⁠085%
Nov 22atNC StateW 55–⁠683%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17Oregon StateRose BowlL 16–⁠2069%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oregon State 20–⁠16 in the Rose Bowl; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Southern Conference champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1941.

Southern Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference, shared with South Carolina

Record
9–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0 first in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 2
Points
327–⁠61
Coach
Wallace Wade
Elo
1738 +99 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
17.2 No. 10 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bob Barnett
Most valuable player
Pete Goddard
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1942

The 1942 draft
Rd 1Steve Lach FBChicago Cardinals
Rd 7Tommy Prothro BNew York Giants

All-Southern Conference

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Tommy ProthroBAP-3; UP-2
  • Winston SiegfriedBAP-2
  • Al PiaseckyEAP-2; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1941 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1941 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke5–⁠09–⁠12
South Carolina4–⁠0–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Clemson5–⁠17–⁠2
William & Mary4–⁠18–⁠2
Virginia Tech4–⁠26–⁠4
VMI4–⁠24–⁠6
Wake Forest4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
NC State3–⁠4–⁠24–⁠5–⁠2
Furman2–⁠3–⁠23–⁠4–⁠2
Washington and Lee1–⁠2–⁠21–⁠6–⁠2
North Carolina2–⁠43–⁠7
Maryland1–⁠23–⁠5–⁠1
Davidson1–⁠5–⁠21–⁠6–⁠3
The Citadel0–⁠2–⁠14–⁠3–⁠1
George Washington0–⁠4–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
Richmond0–⁠62–⁠7

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