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1956 Duke

5–⁠4–⁠1 (4–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bill Murray.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1956, game by game: lost at South Carolina 0–7; won at Virginia 40–7; lost vs. No. 9 Tennessee 20–33; won vs. No. 19 SMU 14–6; lost vs. No. 16 Pittsburgh 14–27; won vs. NC State 42–0; lost vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech 0–7; tied vs. No. 12 Navy 7–7; won at Wake Forest 26–0; won at North Carolina 21–6+42−13Lost 0–7 at South Carolina-7South CarolinaWon 40–7 at Virginia+33VirginiaLost 20–33 vs. No. 9 Tennessee-13No. 9 TennesseeWon 14–6 vs. No. 19 SMU+8No. 19 SMULost 14–27 vs. No. 16 Pittsburgh-13No. 16 PittsburghWon 42–0 vs. NC State+42NC StateLost 0–7 vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech-7No. 2 Georgia TechTied 7–7 vs. No. 12 Navy0No. 12 NavyWon 26–0 at Wake Forest+26Wake ForestWon 21–6 at North Carolina+15North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22atSouth CarolinaL 0–⁠763%
Sep 29atVirginiaW 40–⁠769%
Oct 6vs9TennesseeL 20–⁠3360%
Oct 13vs19SMUW 14–⁠657%
Oct 20vs16PittsburghL 14–⁠2751%
Oct 27vsNC StateW 42–⁠074%
Nov 3vs2Georgia TechL 0–⁠736%
Nov 10vs12NavyT 7–⁠744%
Nov 17atWake ForestW 26–⁠051%
Nov 24atNorth CarolinaW 21–⁠666%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 21–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16

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 1956.

Record
5–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
184–⁠100
Coach
Bill Murray
Elo
1610 +7 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.9 No. 16 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Buddy Bass
Most valuable player
Sidney Deloatch

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 4Sonny Jurgensen QBPhiladelphia Eagles

All-ACC

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Buddy BassEAP-1; UP-1
  • Sid DeLoathOTAP-1; UP-1

Second team

  • Hal McElhaneyBUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson4–⁠0–⁠17–⁠2–⁠219
Duke4–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
South Carolina5–⁠27–⁠3
Maryland2–⁠2–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1
North Carolina2–⁠3–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1
NC State2–⁠43–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠5–⁠12–⁠5–⁠3
Virginia1–⁠43–⁠7

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