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1953 Duke

7–⁠2–⁠1 (4–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bill Murray, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Duke, 1953
Photo: Duke University, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Duke in 1953, game by game: won at South Carolina 20–7; won vs. Wake Forest 19–0; won at Tennessee 21–7; won vs. Purdue 20–14; lost vs. Army 13–14; won vs. NC State 31–0; won vs. Virginia 48–6; tied vs. Navy 0–0; lost at No. 12 Georgia Tech 10–13; won vs. North Carolina 35–20+42−3Won 20–7 at South Carolina+13South CarolinaWon 19–0 vs. Wake Forest+19Wake ForestWon 21–7 at Tennessee+14TennesseeWon 20–14 vs. Purdue+6PurdueLost 13–14 vs. Army-1ArmyWon 31–0 vs. NC State+31NC StateWon 48–6 vs. Virginia+42VirginiaTied 0–0 vs. Navy0NavyLost 10–13 at No. 12 Georgia Tech-3No. 12 Georgia TechWon 35–20 vs. North Carolina+15North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19atSouth CarolinaW 20–⁠759%
Sep 26vsWake ForestW 19–⁠070%
Oct 3atTennesseeW 21–⁠750%
Oct 10vsPurdueW 20–⁠1479%
Oct 17vsArmyL 13–⁠1472%
Oct 24vsNC StateW 31–⁠089%
Oct 31vsVirginiaW 48–⁠683%
Nov 7vsNavyT 0–⁠066%
Nov 21at12Georgia TechL 10–⁠1339%
Nov 28vsNorth CarolinaW 35–⁠2081%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 35–⁠20; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 12
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 16
  6. Wk 6: 13
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 14
  9. Wk 9: 15
  10. 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 1953.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions4–⁠0 in the conference, shared with Maryland

Record
7–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠0 shared first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 7
Points
217–⁠81
Coach
Bill Murray
Elo
1682 +76 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.0 No. 23 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Howard Pitt
Most valuable player
Bob Burrows

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 3Ed Meadows OTChicago Bears

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

  • Howard PittEAP-1; UP-1
  • Ed MeadowsOTAP-1; UP-1
  • Bobby BurrowsOGAP-1; UP-1
  • James “Red” SmithBAP-1; UP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke4–⁠07–⁠2–⁠118
Maryland3–⁠010–⁠11
South Carolina2–⁠37–⁠3
North Carolina2–⁠34–⁠6
Wake Forest2–⁠33–⁠6–⁠1
Clemson1–⁠23–⁠5–⁠1
NC State0–⁠31–⁠9

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