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1971 Duke

6–⁠5 (2–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Mike McGee.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1971, game by game: won at Florida 12–6; won vs. No. 19 South Carolina 28–12; won at Virginia 28–0; won at No. 10 Stanford 9–3; lost vs. Clemson 0–3; won vs. NC State 41–13; lost at Navy 14–15; lost at Georgia Tech 0–21; won vs. West Virginia 31–15; lost at Wake Forest 7–23; lost vs. North Carolina 0–38+28−38Won 12–6 at Florida+6FloridaWon 28–12 vs. No. 19 South Carolina+16No. 19 South CarolinaWon 28–0 at Virginia+28VirginiaWon 9–3 at No. 10 Stanford+6No. 10 StanfordLost 0–3 vs. Clemson-3ClemsonWon 41–13 vs. NC State+28NC StateLost 14–15 at Navy-1NavyLost 0–21 at Georgia Tech-21Georgia TechWon 31–15 vs. West Virginia+16West VirginiaLost 7–23 at Wake Forest-16Wake ForestLost 0–38 vs. North Carolina-38North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atFloridaW 12–⁠632%
Sep 18vs19South CarolinaW 28–⁠1256%
Sep 25atVirginiaW 28–⁠061%
Oct 2at10StanfordW 9–⁠327%
Oct 9vsClemsonL 0–⁠379%
Oct 16vsNC StateW 41–⁠1380%
Oct 23atNavyL 14–⁠1574%
Oct 30atGeorgia TechL 0–⁠2145%
Nov 6vsWest VirginiaW 31–⁠1550%
Nov 13atWake ForestL 7–⁠2353%
Nov 20vsNorth CarolinaL 0–⁠3849%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to North Carolina 38–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 4: 19
  3. Wk 5: 14
  4. Wk 7: 19

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 1971.

Consensus All-AmericanErnie Jackson, DB

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
2–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 14
Points
170–⁠149
Coach
Mike McGee
Elo
1503 +20 this season
SP+ rating
4.0 No. 49 of 120; offense No. 92, defense No. 18
SRS
5.1 No. 36 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Rich Searl, Lanny Murdock and Dennis Satyshur
Most valuable player
Ernie Jackson

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 7Ernie Jackson DBNew Orleans Saints

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Carolina6–⁠09–⁠3
Clemson4–⁠25–⁠6
Duke2–⁠36–⁠5
Wake Forest2–⁠36–⁠5
Virginia2–⁠33–⁠8
NC State2–⁠43–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠42–⁠9

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