CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1985 Duke

4–⁠7 (2–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Steve Sloan.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1985, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 40–17; lost at West Virginia 18–20; won vs. Ohio 34–13; lost at Virginia 14–37; lost at South Carolina 7–28; lost vs. Clemson 9–21; lost at Maryland 10–40; lost vs. Georgia Tech 0–9; lost at Wake Forest 7–27; won vs. NC State 31–19; won at North Carolina 23–21+23−30Won 40–17 vs. Northwestern+23NorthwesternLost 18–20 at West Virginia-2West VirginiaWon 34–13 vs. Ohio+21OhioLost 14–37 at Virginia-23VirginiaLost 7–28 at South Carolina-21South CarolinaLost 9–21 vs. Clemson-12ClemsonLost 10–40 at Maryland-30MarylandLost 0–9 vs. Georgia Tech-9Georgia TechLost 7–27 at Wake Forest-20Wake ForestWon 31–19 vs. NC State+12NC StateWon 23–21 at North Carolina+2North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsNorthwesternW 40–⁠1763%
Sep 14atWest VirginiaL 18–⁠2022%
Sep 21vsOhioW 34–⁠1362%
Oct 5atVirginiaL 14–⁠3725%
Oct 12atSouth CarolinaL 7–⁠2833%
Oct 19vsClemsonL 9–⁠2138%
Oct 26atMarylandL 10–⁠4013%
Nov 2vsGeorgia TechL 0–⁠929%
Nov 9atWake ForestL 7–⁠2737%
Nov 16vsNC StateW 31–⁠1956%
Nov 23atNorth CarolinaW 23–⁠2125%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 23–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 86th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
193–⁠252
Coach
Steve Sloan
Elo
1385 −13 this season
SP+ rating
-11.7 No. 85 of 106; offense No. 94, defense No. 69
SRS
−4.9 No. 68 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Tommy Bowden
Defensive coordinator
Richard Bell
Captains
Pete Stubbs, Nick Buoniconti, Mike Higginbotham and Harry Ward
Most valuable player
Harry Ward

All-ACC

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland6–⁠09–⁠318
Georgia Tech5–⁠19–⁠2–⁠119
Virginia4–⁠36–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠36–⁠6
North Carolina3–⁠45–⁠6
Duke2–⁠54–⁠7
NC State2–⁠53–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠64–⁠7

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