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1981 Duke

6–⁠5 (3–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Red Wilson.

A page from The Chronicle, the student newspaper of Duke University
A page from The Chronicle, the student newspaper of Duke UniversityPhoto: The Chronicle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Duke in 1981, game by game: lost at No. 11 Ohio State 13–34; lost at South Carolina 3–17; won at Virginia 29–24; won vs. East Carolina 24–14; won vs. Virginia Tech 14–7; lost vs. No. 6 Clemson 10–38; lost at Maryland 21–24; won at Georgia Tech 38–24; won at Wake Forest 31–10; won vs. NC State 17–7; lost vs. No. 12 North Carolina 10–31+21−28Lost 13–34 at No. 11 Ohio State-21No. 11 Ohio StateLost 3–17 at South Carolina-14South CarolinaWon 29–24 at Virginia+5VirginiaWon 24–14 vs. East Carolina+10East CarolinaWon 14–7 vs. Virginia Tech+7Virginia TechLost 10–38 vs. No. 6 Clemson-28No. 6 ClemsonLost 21–24 at Maryland-3MarylandWon 38–24 at Georgia Tech+14Georgia TechWon 31–10 at Wake Forest+21Wake ForestWon 17–7 vs. NC State+10NC StateLost 10–31 vs. No. 12 North Carolina-21No. 12 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12at11Ohio StateL 13–⁠3419%
Sep 19atSouth CarolinaL 3–⁠1724%
Sep 26atVirginiaW 29–⁠2439%
Oct 3vsEast CarolinaW 24–⁠1452%
Oct 10vsVirginia TechW 14–⁠741%
Oct 17vs6ClemsonL 10–⁠3835%
Oct 24atMarylandL 21–⁠2427%
Oct 31atGeorgia TechW 38–⁠2457%
Nov 7atWake ForestW 31–⁠1046%
Nov 14vsNC StateW 17–⁠758%
Nov 21vs12North CarolinaL 10–⁠3134%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to North Carolina 31–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

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 1981.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠3 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
210–⁠230
Coach
Red Wilson
Elo
1495 +75 this season
SP+ rating
3.5 No. 65 of 132; offense No. 65, defense No. 66
SRS
4.6 No. 50 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Steve Spurrier
Defensive coordinator
Dick Hopkins
Captains
Greg Bamberger, Cedric Jones, Dennis Tabron and Dan Yellott
Most valuable player
Cedric Jones
Offense
Air Ball
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 3Cedric Jones WRNew England Patriots
Rd 4Charles Bowser LBMiami Dolphins
Rd 5Dennis Tabron DBChicago Bears

All-ACC

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠012–⁠01
North Carolina5–⁠110–⁠29
Maryland4–⁠24–⁠6–⁠1
Duke3–⁠36–⁠5
NC State2–⁠44–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠54–⁠7
Virginia0–⁠61–⁠10

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